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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (4355)	2/28/2004 6:46:23 PM
From: Ed Huang	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

U.S. pitches Sharon plan to Europe, Arabs By Aluf Benn Rice tells Europeans plan could start chain of events similar to fall of Berlin Wall The U.S. administration is trying to persuade European and Arab states as well as the Palestinian Authority to support Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has been telling European officials in recent days that Sharon is serious about his plan and that they should encourage Arab and Palestinian officials to respond in kind. According to American sources, Rice said small steps could lead to larger processes and just as the fall of the Berlin Wall was the result of a chain of events, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza could lead to a "Middle East parallel" of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Rice is a Sovietologist, and often uses images and analogies from the Cold War era. According to reports from Washington, and White House briefings to reporters from The New York Times and Washington Post, the administration supports the Sharon plan and the only question is at what price and whether the U.S. will agree to Israeli demands like allowing Jerusalem to step up construction in the settlement blocs and freeing Israel of the need to negotiate with the Palestinians or propose any other alternative plans as long as Yasser Arafat heads the PA. A White House official said the Sharon plan is a chance for "an enormous and historical change" in Israeli-Arab relations. But the reports also said the Americans will only accept the plan if it is executed in coordination with the Palestinians. Sharon met yesterday for an update with his national security adviser, Giora Eiland, who is hammering out the details of the program. Sharon's bureau chief, attorney Dov Weisglass, is going to Washington next week with Eiland to give a detailed update to Rice and other officials, after two of her staffers, Steve Hadley and Elliott Abrams, visited here last week to hear from Sharon about the plan. Opposition leader MK Shimon Peres of Labor met yesterday in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. Afterward, he said he thinks Egypt would agree to take security responsibility along the Philadelphi axis, the narrow strip between Rafah and Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip and Israel won't need to remain there after a Gaza withdrawal. Peres thinks the Egyptians will do so on a number of conditions: a complete and absolute Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, withdrawals from the West Bank, and coordination of the evacuation of Gaza with the Palestinians and Egyptians. The Egyptians delivered a similar message to Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter when he was in Cairo recently. Meanwhile, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, visiting Israel yesterday, proposed posting an international force in Gaza and the West Bank after Israel's disengagement, and asked under which conditions Israel would agree. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom rejected it out of hand, saying an international force would not be able to halt terror, but would prevent Israel from doing so. Shalom said it was important the Palestinians meet their security commitments, and said an international force could only come "as a result of an agreement and not instead of an agreement." The Danish foreign minister, who arrived here from Syria, said he left Damascus impressed with Syrian President Bashar Assad's seriousness when he speaks of renewing peace talks with Israel. The Syrians understand they are under pressure, see developments in the area and want to make progress. He asked if Israel would be ready to resume talks where they were cut off in 2000. Shalom said no. "Each side has to come with their proposals and not with positions that the current government did not accept," said Shalom. haaretz.com