(UPI) Joshua Brilliant - Israeli officials maintained there was a basic difference between the demands that U.S. President George W. Bush Thursday presented to the Palestinians and to Israel. A senior official specifically alluded to Bush's statement that, "The way forward must begin by confronting the threat that armed gangs pose." The key word was "begin." The official noted the Palestinians have been pushing for final status negotiations, now, even though the Roadmap envisaged such talks only when the sides reach the third and final phase of that plan; not when they are still in the beginning stage. "The Palestinian commitment to dismantle terror organizations is a condition for advancing the peace process," the source stressed. On the other hand, Bush's demands of Israel were not conditions for progress, the senior official continued. Israel accepts them but they relate to matters that are "part of the next stages in the roadmap." The roadmap calls for a settlement freeze that should be implemented in Phase 1, but Israel has maintained the sides have not yet reached Phase 1. The Israeli official dismissed the idea that Hamas militants would lay down their arms once they enter the political arena. Speaking after the Bush-Abbas meeting, the Israeli government official said Hamas' participation in the elections is "an internal Palestinian issue. However, terror is not an internal Palestinian issue. It concerns us and therefore we operate against it."
2005-10-21 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive