Israeli settlements cast shadow over Bush-Sharon meeting
AFP
Date: 04-10-05
CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meet Monday for a summit that will be dominated by renewed controversy over Israel's settlements in the Palestinian territories.
While Bush supports Israel's planned withdrawal from Gaza, the development of settlements in the West Bank has caused concern in Washington as it seeks to prod Israelis and Palestinians back on the US-inspired 'roadmap' peace blueprint.
And the killing of three Palestinian youths in Gaza has ignited tensions on the eve of the Bush-Sharon meeting at the US leader's Texas ranch here.
This will be Sharon's tenth visit to the United States since Bush came to office in January 2001, but his first invitation to the ranch.
The two leaders are close allies but Bush has expressed impatience over Israel's West Bank settlements.
"The roadmap has clear obligations on settlements, and ... we expect the prime minister to adhere to those road map obligations," Bush said on Friday reaffirming his opposition to the building of more new homes for Israeli settlers in Gaza or the West Bank.
Washington has rebuked Israel over plans to build another 3,500 homes in Maale Adumim, the most populous settlement in the West Bank.
Israeli officials have insisted the differences are minor and that the Gaza withdrawal will top the talks agenda on Monday.
But the two sides are not singing the same tune. Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Friday the West Bank developments would not be discussed at the summit. But he was soon contradicted by Bush.
Ever since Bush declared a year ago that it would be unrealistic for an Israeli-Palestinian frontier to follow the 1949 line, Israel has considered that its colonies in the former Palestinian lands were part of its territory.
The US president has publicly corrected Israeli officials but US officials have been at pains to emphasise that the Gaza withdrawal will be the main subject at Monday's meeting.
"Monday's meeting is a good opportunity to talk about moving forward on the disengagement plan and getting the parties focused on moving forward on the roadmap," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan said last week.
The withdrawals are not part of the much delayed roadmap to peace drawn up by the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
The initial aim was for the creation of an independent Palestinian state by the end of 2005, but Bush has now put this back until the end of 2008.
The withdrawal from Gaza and four isolated settlements in the West Bank should start in July and involve the evacuation of about 8,000 Israeli settlers, some of whom have been there more than 30 years. Israel has occupied Gaza since the end of the Six Day War in 1967.
As ever, Bush has emphasized the optimistic outlook for his efforts to end the Middle East conflict.
"We have a great opportunity. We, the world, have a great opportunity to help a democracy grow -- begin and grow, starting in the Gaza."
Bush emphasized his support for the Gaza withdrawal and said on Friday "now is the time to focus the world's attention on what is possible."
Sharon is also having trouble selling his territorial plans at home.
Israeli police prevented right-wing Jewish extremists from staging a rally at Jerusalem's disputed Al Aqsa mosque compound Sunday after thousands of Muslims had massed to defend the flashpoint site.
The ultra-nationalist Revava group called for mass prayers -- to coincide with Sharon's visit -- to denounce the planned evacuation in the Gaza Strip.
While violence has sharply declined since Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas drew a line under nearly five years of bloodshed at a summit two months ago, the shakiness of the truce was underlined when three Palestinian youths were shot dead by Israeli troops in southern Gaza on Saturday.
The Palestinian movement Hamas responded by firing more than a dozen mortar shells at the main Gush Katif settlement bloc in southern Gaza.
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