Israel publicly positive, but quietly seethes after Abbas-Bush summit
AFP
Date: 05-27-05
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel put on a brave face after Mahmud Abbas won crucial backing from Washington, but seethed beneath the surface, blaming the Palestinian leader for not wiping out armed groups.
After his first-ever talks with a Palestinian leader since being elected in 2001, US President George W. Bush on Thursday reaffirmed US support for a Palestinian state, praised Abbas and pledged 50 million dollars in direct aid.
He also urged Israel to halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, dismantle illegal outposts and withdraw troops to positions held before the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000.
While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office presented the summit as business as usual, the right-wing branded it a failure for Israel and left-wing Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres clamoured for more settlements to be dismantled.
"Bush's speech was a defeat for Israel," said chairman of the parliamentary defence and foreign affairs committee, Youval Steinitz.
"He praised Abu Mazen (Abbas), but he has done nothing against terrorism and allowed terrorist organisations to continue to rearm," said the MP from Sharon's right-wing Likud party.
The Israeli government has repeatedly accused Abbas of failing to disarm militant groups despite a de facto truce, which has been in place since the Palestinian leader was elected in January.
Furthermore, said Steinitz, the Abbas-Bush summit made "worthless" a 2004 letter from Bush that signalled clear support for Israel holding onto large West Bank settlement blocs under a final status agreement.
To appease settlers and the right-wing, up in arms over his plan to uproot all Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip this summer, Sharon has claimed Israel will cement its grip on settlements in the West Bank with US support.
From mid-August, the Israeli government is to dismantle all 21 settlements in the occupied Gaza Strip, as well as another four in the northern West Bank.
But Israeli officials appeared unfazed, saying the warm welcome laid out for Abbas was only to be expected after Washington boycotted his predecessor Yasser Arafat for years.
"Disappointment does not come into it because President Bush has not changed position," one Sharon aide told AFP. "The president made no concession on the need to fight terrorism," he added.
The Israeli press was unconvinced.
"He (Bush) adopted the democratic and peace loving aspect of Abu Mazen's regime, but disregarded what Israel views as a dangerous failure on the war on terrorism," said the Yediot Aharonot daily.
"It can be said that the Palestinians gained a few points yesterday, and Israel lost some," added the newspaper's editorial.
Despite the criticism, Sharon's office again refused to be drawn.
"Mahmud Abbas got good grades, but he doesn't have his diploma yet," said an aide of the premier, seeing the summit as a blessing for the Palestinian chief to continue his mandate but a warning there is still a long way to go.
"Abu Mazen (Abbas) has begun to do things, but you can't say he's done enough to start the negotiations on the roadmap," added the source.
Nevertheless Peres, whose left-wing Labour party joined the Sharon coalition primarily to shore up the Gaza pullout, said Israel must dismantle more settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"Facts will not allow Israel to rest on its laurels after the Gaza pullout, we must evacuate other settlements. It is inconceivable that all settlements remain," he said.
Source
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