More hopeless attempts to split the difference from the Bush administration. I think that Walker has the best comment, "Our credibility has been eroded very drastically in the region," said Edward S. Walker Jr., a former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, who recently returned from a trip to the region. "Nobody has the foggiest idea what our policy is." Come to think of it, Ambassador Walker has identified the one point of perfect harmony between Israel and all the Arab regimes.
Bush to Present Strict Demands to Palestinians
By TODD S. PURDUM and DAVID E. SANGER
WASHINGTON, June 19 — President Bush has resolved to promote the formation of a Palestinian state within a few years, but only if Palestinian leaders meet specific benchmarks, including a lasting crackdown on terrorism and other broad reforms, according to senior officials and others familiar with the plan.
But in daily White House meetings on the president's planned speech on the Middle East, some senior officials have expressed concern that the reforms demanded of the Palestinians are so detailed — they all but call for leaders to replace or work around Yasir Arafat — that the Palestinians will reject them.
In addition, because current drafts of the speech put relatively few demands on Israel, there is concern that moderate Arab states may find the president's plan wanting.
The White House acknowledged today that the latest terrorist bombings in Israel, and the Israeli government's response, had complicated the administration's efforts and delayed, probably at least until early next week, Mr. Bush's speech describing his ideas. The speech was originally scheduled for this week.
"It's hard to get people to focus on peace today when they're still suffering from the consequences of terrorism as we speak," said the White House press secretary, Ari Fleischer. Significantly, though, he added: "The president has come to some conclusions," based on recent consultations with Arab and Israeli leaders, "and when the president determines the time is right, he will share it."
Mr. Fleischer also said, "The president understands Israel has a right to defend herself," words that seemed to endorse the Israeli response to the new suicide bombings.
Senior administration officials and others briefed on the administration's thinking said Mr. Bush has settled on the outlines of his plan, "and we now know what's off the table," as one official put it. The administration wants to win endorsement from the United Nations, the European Union and Russia before making a public announcement, hoping that will enable him to present the plan as an international proposal.
Nonetheless, one official said, "there's still so much up in the air," as Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and other senior officials met again late this afternoon to try to find what one official called "yet another way to split the differences."
Among the open issues, officials said, State Department and White House lawyers are still debating how to refer to an interim or provisional Palestinian state, which would initially be declared on land now occupied by Palestinians. It would not have final borders, and how to treat it under international law is yet to be determined. Israel opposes letting any such state issue currency or bonds, or join international organizations, for example.
So Mr. Bush would make full statehood contingent on a unified Palestinian security force to fight terrorism, passage of a constitution and other specific reforms, one official said. The proposal would "make a nod" to delicate "final status" issues like control of Jerusalem, saying they would have to be resolved by the Israelis and Palestinians. The administration seems to have no current plan to make specific mention of another delicate issue, the right of return of Palestinian refugees, the official added.
The plan also includes new language that attempts to bridge the gap between Arab insistence that Israel retreat to its 1967 borders, and Israel's insistence on the vaguer wording of United Nations Resolution 242, which called on Israel to withdraw "from territories occupied" in the 1967 war, without using a definite article.
Administration officials hope their language will mollify both sides.
"This language will be like the six blind men and the elephant," one official said. "Everyone will read it and come away with a different sense. The Israelis will not be offended, and the Arabs will see something in it."
The plan also calls for an international conference in September, to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. That would likely be in lieu of the foreign ministers' conference originally envisioned for this summer. That, officials said, has been abandoned as unworkable. One official said the proposal to have leaders gather at the time of the United Nations meeting was a compromise to avoid canceling the conference altogether, or making even a conference contingent on Palestinian reforms.
Officials said that once Mr. Bush announced his plan, he intended to send Secretary Powell to the Middle East almost immediately to explain it to both sides and try to build support.
Senior administration officials cautioned that Mr. Bush and his top advisers were still fine-tuning details.
Diplomats briefed on the administration's thinking said the question of a timeline for Palestinian statehood, a key demand of Arab states and Western European allies, would be finessed to put the emphasis on Palestinian performance, a central Israeli demand.
Many experts say a clear statement from Mr. Bush is needed as soon as possible to clear up considerable confusion about the administration's aims.
"Our credibility has been eroded very drastically in the region," said Edward S. Walker Jr., a former assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, who recently returned from a trip to the region. "Nobody has the foggiest idea what our policy is."
nytimes.com |
