44111.110110.11 1Mliill Introducing... stop the violence. And the agreed- upon standard for moving forward — seven days of complete quiet — is seen as nearly impossible to achieve. With Bush reluctant to get into the diplomatic arena personally, Powell was the biggest arsenal in the adminis- tration's hands. Now the State Department will need to look for a new approach. "The problem now is that the State Department has no second act," said Tamara Cofman Wittes, an analyst with the Middle East Institute. One option they should consider, analysts say, is for the United States to step up their day-to-day efforts and increase the pressure on both sides, essentially playing the role of a referee. Wittes said the State Department will need to "keep a very careful and public eye" on both Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and be ready to scold them when they don't follow the guidelines laid out in the Mitchell and Tenet plans. We're Open 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m: Specifically, the United States could withhold or restrict aid to the Palestinians and place one of the Palestinian factions on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organiiation. The major perk the Bush adminis- tration could offer Arafat is a visit to the White House. As for Israel, the United States could follow through with $800 million in supplemental aid to Israel, which was promised by President Clinton before leaving office, but the Bush adminis- tration has been reluctant to follow through given the current situation. But the Bush administration faces political restrictions to those ideas. Too harsh a penalty against the Palestinians could disrupt the U.S. relationship with Arab countries, cru- cial to bolstering the White House's AFLA0577111° BANK BANKING CENTERS 10562 Belleville Road • Belleville • 734-699-6639 (Inside Wal-Mart) 3915 Telegraph Road • Bloomfield Hills • 248-988-8613 42200 Ford Road • Canton • 734-981-4942 1131 W. 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Maple Road • Troy • 248-288-6559 New Location: 44691 Mound Road • Sterling Heights • 810-803-1180 Adding More Pressure MEMBER FDIC Much has been made of the fact that Arafat agreed to the cease-fire after the Tel Aviv disco bombing at least in part because of the efforts of German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. - The belief is that it will Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon looks on dur- take a unified front against ing a session in the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Arafat to yield results. "There is a general frustra- Jerusalem on July 2. tion that Jordan and Egypt aren't doing enough," said an official policy toward Iraq.' with a major American Jewish organi- Delegitimizing Arafat would also zation. be risky, say analysts, not knowing But Malcolm Hoenlein, executive who would replace him. vice chairman of the Conference of At the same time, any attempt to Presidents of Major American Jewish punish Israel would certainly draw Organizations, disagreed, saying that criticism from the American Jewish only American support is critical. community and their numerous sup- "Everything else is irrelevant," porters in Congress. That would also Hoenlein said. "The Europeans can't happen if Arafat comes to offer anything to Arafat." The United Washington. States, however, has several carrots and At some point, the administration. sticks in its bag, and being more force- may be forced to abandon the ful with consequences for both sides is Mitchell report altogether, and try a another option. different approach, although it The United States could punish the remains publicly reluctant to do that. Palestinian Authority for its use of "I don't think we have an exact mortars and other weapons, a viola- time period of when Mitchell tion of the Oslo accords, and could becomes just another report on the reprimand Israel for its use of shelf, but it's clear that there is an American-made F-16s, which are sup- opportunity here and that we're posed to only be used for defensive going to continue to urge the parties purposes. The State Department has to take advantage of it," State also raised concerns about Israel's prac- Department spokesman Richard tice of targeted killings. 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