AP Cabinet & State
Powell Seeks Israel's Assurances on Gaza
Date: Mon, Sep 20, 2004
By BARRY SCHWEID, AP Diplomatic Writer
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) is seeking assurances from Israel that a pullout from Gaza would be a first step in peacemaking with the Palestinians and not be followed by a long timeout in seeking an overall settlement.
Israel, meanwhile, hopes a meeting Tuesday between Powell and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom can produce an effective strategy for blunting anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations (news - web sites).
Traditionally, the United States uses its veto power in the U.N. Security Council to kill most resolutions that single out Israel for one-sided condemnation, but there is no effective defense in the General Assembly and Israel remains the only U.N. member excluded from serving on the Council.
An interview Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) gave an Israel newspaper last week sent a ripple of dismay through the Mideast. Sharon was quoted as saying that since the Palestinians were not interested in negotiations Israel may call a timeout after removing the 8,000 Jewish settlers and the troops that protect them from Gaza.
Sharon also affirmed an intention to hold on to at least part of the West Bank.
The White House and State Department quickly produced statements saying the projected Gaza pullout was seen as a way to jumpstart the U.S.-backed road map for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.
And Israel's ambassador to Washington, Daniel Ayalon, offered assurances Israel remained committed to the road map.
Powell wants to keep peacemaking hopes alive, although he acknowledges getting started requires a clampdown by Palestinian leaders on terrorists who attack Israel.
Sentiment in the United Nations is strong for an Israeli withdrawal on the West Bank as well as from Gaza.
Powell is due to meet Wednesday with some of the strongest proponents of Israeli withdrawal on all fronts, including other members of the informal group known as the Quartet: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) and Russian and European Union (news - web sites) leaders.
Together with the United States, they produced the road map that the Bush administration clings to as its best hope for peacemaking in the volatile region.
Powell and Shalom also intend to explore countering terrorism, especially threats their two countries see posed by Iran and Syria, as well Israel's rerouting of a security fence designed to block Palestinian suicide bombers.
The Bush administration supports Israel's right to defend itself but wants to minimize the fence's impact on Palestinians' lives and to make sure it is not constructed in a way that prejudges the future of the West Bank.
SOURCE
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