Israel-U.S. rift may benefit the Palestinians

By Ramit Plushnick-Masti

JERUSALEM (Reuters): An apparent rift between Israel and the United States over implementation of a Middle East cease-fire could shift some American pressure from the Palestinians to Israel, political analysts said on Wednesday.

Differences surfaced at a White House meeting on Tuesday between U.S. President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, just before Secretary of State Colin Powell left for the Middle East to try to bolster the truce.

Although Sharon dismissed talk of a rift, analysts said the Palestinians could portray it as a victory for them because they have been subjected to fierce pressure by the United States to do more to implement the two-week-old truce.

The analysts also said the apparent rift could signal that Washington wants Israel to acknowledge the truce is holding and go on to the next stage of a U.S. peace plan.

"I think now Powell, Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair ... understand the game Mr Sharon is playing," Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo told Reuters, suggesting Sharon had been avoiding moving on to the next stage.

Bush spoke at a news conference of a 100 percent effort by the Palestinians to end the violence. Sharon demanded a complete cessation of hostilities before moving on to measures meant to rebuild shattered trust between the warring parties.

Bush also demanded Israel completely halt construction in settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Sharon said he would not expropriate any more land for the outposts but would allow building for their "natural growth" needs.

Dovish Israeli lawmaker Shlomo Ben-Ami told Israel Radio the Sharon-Bush summit -- the second in three months -- was poorly organized and unnecessary.

"I think this unnecessary visit really reduced the chances of ending the violence because it is a victory for (Palestinian President Yasser) Arafat," said Ben-Ami, who served as foreign minister in the previous Israeli government.

"This is a slap in the face that will echo in the international arena," he added.

Israel and the Palestinians blame each other for the violence that erupted in September after peace talks stalled and has killed about 600 people. The fighting has subsided, but not ended, since the sides agreed to the cease-fire on June 13.

Any pressure on Israel, the United States' main ally in the region, would not mean an end to Washington demanding Palestinians implement their obligations under the cease-fire, including arresting militants and collecting illegal weapons.

Abed Rabbo said Sharon wanted to "postpone forever" implementing the recommendations of a committee led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell, including halting construction at Jewish settlements.

"He (Sharon) wants to hold confidence-building measures hostage to demands that are unattainable and were not requested -- which is a complete cessation of violence," he said.

"We cannot become the first country in the world with zero violence," Abed Rabbo added.

The settlements, considered illegal under international law, are built on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war and which the Palestinians want for an independent state.

Palestinians have viewed Jewish settlements as legitimate targets in their uprising against Israeli occupation.

Avi Ben-Zvi, an expert on Israeli-American relations, said that by making the differences public, Bush was trying to ensure Powell did not return from the Middle East empty-handed.

"He is trying on the eve of Powell's 'mini-negotiations' to define exactly the parameters, the framework, to get Sharon on board (over moving on to the next stage of peace moves)," Ben-Zvi told Israel Radio.

Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Sharon who was in Washington last week meeting senior officials in the Bush administration, said the disagreement was no surprise.

"I don't think this is going to be a point of major, major contention," Shoval, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, told Reuters.

"But Israel will have to make a great diplomatic effort to make sure the disagreement doesn't erupt into something bigger."

Analyst Chemi Shalev wrote in the Israeli newspaper Maariv that the United States was likely to try to reduce the damage once it realized the embarrassment it had caused Sharon.

"Bush gave valuable ammunition yesterday to the prime minister's critics, who will be able to claim from now on that his efforts to please the Americans through restraint ended ... with a painful public slap," Shalev said.

Shoval said Bush was under pressure from the Arab world -- especially Egyptian and Saudi Arabian leaders whom Powell is scheduled to meet during his three-day visit -- to increase pressure on Sharon to return to peace talks.

Lenny Ben-David, a former diplomat at the Israeli embassy in Washington, said Israel's security is among the United States' top priorities.

"But so are American relations with the Arab world, regional support for American pressure on Iraq ... and the stability of oil prices and supply," he wrote in The Jerusalem Post newspaper.