Haaretz
Iyar 16,5765
During his meeting
Wednesday with U.S. President George Bush, Palestinian leader Mahmoud
Abbas will focus his efforts on ensuring that Israel's withdrawal from the
Gaza Strip in August is not accompanied by the expansion of
settlements.
As Abbas departed Tuesday for his first visit to the
White House since being elected in January, Palestinian Authority
officials were trying to lower expectations. The Palestinians had hoped to
obtain a public American statement regarding the resumption of the
political process after the completion of the disengagement
plan.
But Palestinian sources said Tuesday that the PA does not
expect the Bush-Abbas meeting to yield significant acievements. The talks,
they added, will also focus on garnering economic aid to the
PA.
Palestinian sources said the PA expects the administration to
pressure Israel to accelerate the coordination of the disengagement,
especially regarding the transfer of control of the settlements to the
Palestinian security forces after the pullout. They said they also wanted
to coordinate efforts with Israel to ensure calm in the Strip during the
evacuation.
Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Shaath said
Tuesday that the PA would "try to get American guarantees that the pullout
from Gaza and the northern West Bank will not be the end, but we believe
the Americans will not make any significant move before the end of the
withdrawal from Gaza."
Shaath added that as far as the Palestinians
are concerned there is no guarantee that the withdrawal will take place at
all. "The disengagement is a unilateral plan. First came the [Jewish]
holidays, then they postponed the withdrawal and Sharon can also cancel it
unilaterally. The greatest danger is that during the withdrawal Israel
will unilaterally expand the settlements," he said.
The
Palestinians coordinated Abbas' itinerary in the U.S. with the American
consulate in East Jerusalem and with European officials. Palestinian
sources said the administration has indicated it will not address final
status issues, as Abbas is demanding, until the completion of the pullout
from Gaza. The administration will also refrain from making more demands
of Israel during the evacuation, they said.
Abbas hinted on Monday
that the PA may link its efforts to ensure calm during the evacuation to
Israel's readiness to halt the construction in the settlements. "Peace and
security cannot exist together with the continued settlements," he
said.
At the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee)
conference in Washington on Tuesday, on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
commended Abbas for his "strategic decision" to denounce violence and
terror. However, Sharon said Abbas' statements "must be translated into
real action on the ground."
He added that acts of terror had yet to
cease and that the smuggling and production of arms was
continuing.
Sharon said that if the disengagement was coordinated
with the Palestinians it could usher in a "new era of
cooperation."
"We will do our utmost to cooperate with the new
Palestinian leadership," he said.
Sharon, who received enthusiastic
applause from the 4,000 delegates at the AIPAC conference, said the
disengagement would enable Israel to ensure that the large settlement
blocs in the West bank remained an inseparable part of Israel.
The
administration tried to arrange a meeting between Sharon and Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday, but Sharon told reporters "it didn't
work out." Sharon did not want to hold work meetings with American
officials on his visit, apparently wishing to avoid American pressure on
him to help Abbas.