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July 25, 2003/Tamuz 25 5763, Vol. 55, No. 48
Sharon, Abbas court White House
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - As the fragile Israeli-Palestinian peace process inches forward, leaders of both sides are looking to upcoming au-diences with President Bush to exert pressure on the other and give the "road map" peace plan some momentum.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian Authority coun-terpart, Mahmoud Abbas, each will seek to persuade the American leader to lean on the other side to move faster - and Bush will be ready to lean on both, Israeli analysts believe.
For the Palestinians, most important are releasing prisoners, dismantling illegal settlement outposts, freezing construction of Israeli settlements and Israel's West Bank security fence, and easing restrictions on Palestinian civilians.
Israel will ask Bush to demand that the Palestinians dismantle terrorist groups and decommission their weapons, and not make do with the groups' tenuous cease-fire.
In their strategic thinking, both Abbas and Sharon put a premium on ties with America. Even before he took over as prime minister, Abbas advocated the use of American and international pressure on Israel, rather than terrorism, to achieve Palestinian goals.
Sharon, who is to meet with Bush on July 29, sees American support as the key to Israel's position in the world. In Sharon's view, it is absolutely vital that the Palestinian issue not be allowed to erode Israel's ties with Washington.
Abbas reportedly will highlight two key issues in his White House meeting on July 25: getting more Palestinian prisoners released and stopping construction of the security fence. He will argue that if Israel is really serious about turning over a new leaf, it should release all Palestinian prisoners, even those with "blood on their hands" - i.e., those involved in terror attacks.
On the security fence, the Palestinians have noted the recent sharp differences between Israel and the United States. Israeli officials believe Abbas hopes to use the issue to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States and get the Bush administration to pressure Israel to stop building it, on the grounds that it takes in large swathes of the West Bank and thus prejudges a final territorial accommodation.
Abbas also reportedly will urge Bush to pressure Sharon to put more West Bank cities under Palestinian security control. He argues that unless he has real achievements to show the Palestinian people, his shaky position as prime minister in P.A. President Yasser Arafat's shadow will be further weakened.
According to aides, Sharon's main goal will be to convince Bush that the Palestinians must be held to their commitments in the fight against terror. Sharon, they say, will suggest linking further prisoner releases to Palestinian dismantling of militia groups and the collection of illegal weapons.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.
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