forward with the problem of terror-
ism." A similar message, made more
urgent by the crumpling of the latest
cease-fire, came from visiting Turkish,
Qatar, Saudi and Egyptian delegations.
Most observers say the administra-
tion, while increasing the pressure on
both Palestinians and Israelis to end the
violence, is not tilting against Israel in
the interests of its anti-terror coalition.
"They are making it clear they won't
let Egypt or the others dictate the
terms of their participation," said
David Makovskv, a senior fellow at the
Washington Institute for Near East
Policy, a pro-Israel think-tank.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
and National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice, he said, have indi-
cated that the administration is pursu-
ing a number of different coalitions,
not a single overarching one. "Missions
will define the coalitions," he said,
and not coalitions defining the mis-
sion." He said that ultimately, the U.S.
effort could be good for Israel.
"If the U.S. really reshuffles the deck
regionally in a way that radicalism is
routed, like it was in 1991, then it
really might open up some important
opportunities," he said.
But he warned that fluid events and
surging emotions among the American
people make predictions risky.
"What happens in step two will
depend very much on how step one
goes," he said. "This is just the first
act in the opera." ❑

affirmation of the status quo that

has existed effectively since the
Oslo peace accords of 1993.
And the State Department insist-
ed that the plan and Bush's state-
ment contained "nothing new"
U.S. efforts to promote peace
between Israel and the Palestinians
could take on new significance,
however, as the Bush administra
tion tries to rally Arab and
Muslim support for a coalition
against terrorism and demonstrate
that the United States is not wag-
ing war on Islam.
But some, such as Howard A
Kohr, executive director of the
American Israel Public Affairs
Committee, see the president's com-
ment as ill-timed because of contin-
uing violence being carried out by
Palestinians. "The people giving the
president this advice forget that he
is trying to fight tenor, not reward
it," Kohr told the Post. ❑

— Jewish Renaissance Media

10/5
2001

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