According to officials familiar with talks between President Bush and SaudiArabia foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal, President Bush has indicated that hehas made up his mind to announce a proposal that will support the creation ofa Palestinian state in order to give some hope to the Palestinians living underIsraeli occupation.
The outline of this proposal may be revealed during a speech given in the weekof June 16.
The officials went on to say that there is hope that this proposal will quellviolence and hold Palestinian leaders to a high standard of accountability forbuilding institutions that can enforce peace and security for Israel and thenew Palestinian state.
While President Bush did not address all of the details of his proposal withthe foreign minister, he did discuss how to refer to the borders of a Palestinianstate in any declaration, how to set a time line for negotiations, and how toarrange the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied West Bank so thatPalestinian institutions can be rebuilt and reformed.
A struggle within the Bush administration held up Presidents Bush’#146;s decisionon the matter. This struggle centered on whether this proposal would have anyreal hope of pacifying the region.
Also, this decision could either antagonize Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,or subject President Bush to political attacks by his colleagues in Congresswho could claim that he is rewarding the Palestinians for terrorist acts committedagainst Israeli civilians.
Israeli Foreign Minster Shimon Peres told the Associated Press that he alsofavors a Palestinian state, and entering into a discussion as to how to divideJerusalem as the capital for both states.
However, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that President Bushexpressed support for declaring an interim Palestinian state, while Prime MinsterSharon replied that he believed Bush was opposed to such an idea.
The Palestinian uprising has led to over 1000 Palestinians and 900 Israelisdead and has resulted in a great deal of destruction of private and public property.When considering this violence, any peace or political settlement will faceenormous challenges.
