Tense Words
Summit didn't bridge gaps in U.S., Israeli policies.
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Crawford, Texas
s photo-ops go, this one didn't
develop quite as expected. The
meeting Monday, April 11,
between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon and President Bush at Bush's
vast Texas ranch was to have affirmed
the special U.S.-Israel relationship and
pave the way forward in the Israeli-
Palestinian peace process — a tri-
umphant summit between two
friends, farmers and statesmen.
Instead, what emerged between the
tense lines the two men delivered as a
stiff Texas breeze ruffled their scripts
were profound differences over how
Sharon and Bush perceive Israeli and
Palestinian obligations and the future
of the peace process.
Bush made his position clear: Israel's
settlement expansion in the West Bank
must stop. "I told the prime minister
of my concern that Israel not under-
take any activity that contravenes 'road
map' obligations or prejudices final-
status negotiations," Bush said, refer-
ring to the "road map" peace plan his
administration launched three years
ago.
"Therefore, Israel should remove
unauthorized outposts and meet its
road map obligations regarding settle-
ments in the West Bank." That was
just the first of three emphatic calls by
Bush to end settlement expansion.
Just as emphatically, Sharon reserved
the right to build in major settlements
that Israel plans to keep in any final
agreement. "It is the Israeli position
that the major Israeli population cen-
ters will remain in Israel's hands under
any future final-status agreement, with
all related consequences," Sharon said.
The only thing keeping a lid on the
tensions was the joint commitment to
the success of Sharon's planned evacua-
tion of settlements in the Gaza Strip
A
Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush address the press after their summit Monday.
and part of the West Bank, scheduled
to begin July 20.
Bush urged Israelis and Palestinians
to coordinate the pullout. "By working
together, Israelis and Palestinians can
lay the groundwork for a peaceful tran-
sition," he said.
At the heart of the dispute were con-
flicting visions of the road map. Bush
sees it as under way; Sharon believes
the plan will go into effect only when
the Palestinian Authority meets its ini-
tial obligations to eradicate terrorism,
dismantle terrorist groups and end
anti-Israel incitement. Until that hap-
pens, he made clear, Israel will not
begin considering its settlement obliga-
tions under the plan.
"Only after the Palestinians fulfill
their obligations, primarily a real fight
against terrorism and the dismantling
of its infrastructure, can we proceed
toward negotiations based on the road
map," Sharon said.
Sharon was even more emphatic
later, in a meeting with Hebrew-speak-
ing reporters. "We are not at the road
map, we are before the road map," he
said. "As long as the Palestinians don't
take the necessary steps, the road map
is not under way."
Sharon acknowledged that P.A.
President Mahmoud Abbas has made
some progress in maintaining quiet
since his January election, but argued
that Israel has no simultaneous obliga-
tions — at least when it comes to set-
dements, which Sharon believes should
be addressed only in the final stage of
negotiations.
Sharon recalled Israel's historic com-
mitment to settlement building, a
commitment he helped advance as a
minister during the rapid settlement
expansion in the first Menachem Begin
government, from 1977 to 1981. The
United States, he said, historically
opposed the settlements, but Israel
forged ahead because of its strategic
interests; the bilateral relationship
never suffered.
The history lesson was Sharon's way
of chiding Israeli reporters who asked
whether his tense appearance with
Bush was evidence of a "crisis." Even if
there were a crisis, Sharon said, "not
every crisis needs to lead to a revolu-
tion of the soul."
Translation: Ariel Sharon, the vision-
ary of the settlement movement, hadn't
given up on his dreams of expanding
Israel's narrow waist and offering the
country a bit of strategic depth.
It was clear even before the meeting
began that there would be tensions,
and the visit might not go as well as
originally expected. Sharon spent
on page 26
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