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Bush's Call for International Summit a Warning Sign

[Ynet News] Zalman Shoval - By all indications, President Bush's call for an international summit came as a surprise to Israel, and this may herald a new era marked by increased lack of diplomatic coordination between Washington and Jerusalem. The Bush Administration is giving less consideration to Israel's wishes while it seeks new ways to advance solutions, or at least present an appearance of providing a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue in order to counterbalance its problems in Iraq. The reason why Israel has always protested such moves - and should have opposed such a summit now - is that there is not much probability that within a constellation where it would face Arab states, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union alone it would not find itself in an inferior position. It would be hard to expect the Americans - in their current international and shaky position - to strongly confront the other participants. Mahmoud Abbas has already made clear what he would demand at the planned summit: To immediately engage in talks on a final-status agreement based on the desirable Palestinian positions, of course. The writer is a former ambassador to the U.S.
2007-07-27 01:00:00
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