Word: ariel
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...Ariel Sharon is coming to the White House feeling lucky, because he believes that President Bush's domestic political concerns sets strict limits on the extent to which the U.S. is able to pressure Israel. The Bush administration recognizes that protecting its interests throughout the Middle East requires rapid progress towards settling the conflict by creating a Palestinian state on the West Bank and Gaza. But Sharon has made abundantly clear that he's not interested in any near-term political settlement nor in any version of Palestinian statehood that would satisfy even the most moderate Arab and Palestinian leaders...
...Ariel Sharon is expected at the White House next week, where President Bush will press him to start negotiating the terms of Palestinian statehood. Sharon says he's ready to offer what he considers a far-reaching plan. But the central committee of Sharon's own Likud Party - the majority of whose members want former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rather than Sharon as their candidate in the next election - is having none of it. The party committee looks set to adopt a resolution two weeks from now rejecting any Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. And Netanyahu...
...Having proved over the weekend that he can, when push comes to shove, prevail on Ariel Sharon to do his bidding, President Bush may have inadvertently made 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the address for complaints over Israeli behavior. First up: Israel's effort to limit the terms of a U.N. fact-finding mission established to investigate the recent battle at Jenin. Israel is holding off for fear that it is being set up for prosecution or a smear campaign. But European Union commissioner Romano Prodi says he'll use Sunday's Washington summit to press President Bush to "use his influence...
...President Bush's comments may have done Arafat a favor. The Palestinian leader has called for a presidential election in January, and top aide Nabil Shaath told the media Wednesday that Arafat would definitely be a candidate. Bush's attack, which in Palestinian eyes aligns the U.S. intimately with Ariel Sharon, will make it even more difficult for any challenger to Arafat's regime. Arafat won't lose a national election, especially now, and so ousting him will depend on the ability of Arab leaders, working behind the scenes, to get him to stand down...
Somewhere, Ariel Sharon is smiling. The Israeli prime minister has plenty of reason to be pleased with President Bush's latest iteration of Mideast policy. On Monday, Bush declared that the Palestinians must elect new leaders if peace in the Mideast is ever to become reality. The speech may be controversial, but it won't do much to quell the violence in the region. For that, Bush must detail how he plans to balance Palestinian and Israeli concerns, while keeping Arab allies on board in the war on terror...