David Satterfield, deputy assistant secretary of state for
Near Eastern affairs, said Israel should also rethink the
barrier it is building in the West Bank following threats from
both sides that could sink the "road map" plan.
The diplomat put more emphasis on concessions from Israel
than top U.S. officials -- including Secretary of State Colin
Powell (news - web sites) -- have in recent weeks.
"For friends of Israel, the conclusion is hard to escape,
settlement activity must stop because it ultimately undermines
Israeli as well as Palestinian interests," Satterfield said in
a speech to a conference on the Arab-Israeli War in 1967.
The barrier's route was also "a significant problem ...
and, like settlement activity itself, takes everyone further
from the comfort and trust necessary to achieve the (U.S.)
president's vision of two states," Satterfield said.
While he was reiterating U.S. policy, the public comments
were meant to pressure Israel, whose biggest ally is the United
States, analyst Richard Fairbanks of the think-tank, the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, said.
"The fact he said it out loud is important because it is
sending a signal," Fairbanks said.
SUICIDE BOMBERS
Israel has threatened a unilateral separation along the
line of a wall snaking through the West Bank that it says is to
keep out suicide bombers. Palestinians call it a bid to annex
or fragment occupied land and have warned they could respond by
demanding a single bi-national state.
Satterfield, who was in Jerusalem in December to mediate
between the two sides, also reiterated U.S. demands on the
Palestinians.
"It is essential that Palestinians understand violence and
terror will never be a vehicle for achievement of their
aspirations," he said.
At a news conference last week, Powell sought similar moves
from Palestinian leaders but did not criticize the Israeli
policies of settlements or the barrier.
The stalled road map outlines reciprocal steps to defuse a
3-year-old Palestinian uprising and establish a Palestinian
state alongside Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), a longtime champion of
the settler movement, has raised the possibility of dismantling
some Jewish settlements on occupied territory. On Monday, he
said it was too early to write off the road map.
