Browse > Home / Israel Gods Timepiece / Annapolis - Israeli Officials Fear Bush and U.S. Reversal On Security and Territory

Annapolis - Israeli Officials Fear Bush and U.S. Reversal On Security and Territory

November 27, 2007

The concern was expressed on the eve of the Annapolis, Md. conference. Officials said that over the last two weeks, the administration, particularly Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, appeared to have abandoned U.S. commitments to Israel, including one in 2004 that recognized Israeli blocs in the West Bank.

A key concern has been President George Bush’s deadline for an independent Palestinian entity throughout the West Bank. Israel Security Agency director Yuval Diskin said the goal of establishing such a state within 14 months was dangerous, and that no viable Palestinian partner would be found.

[On Monday, Bush was scheduled to meet Israeli and Palestinian delegations to Annapolis. The U.S. president was expected to call for an acceleration of efforts for a Palestinian state.]

Officials said the most important U.S. commitment was a letter by Bush in 2004 meant to encourage the unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The letter was said to have cited American recognition that in any final agreement with the Palestinians, Israel would not return to the 1967 borders.

“There is a serious question about the exact standing of the Bush letter on the eve of Annapolis,” former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Dore Gold, said.

Gold, a consultant to the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, cited Ms. Rice’s statement of Nov. 13 that “most Israelis are ready to leave nearly all of the West Bank, just as they were ready to leave Gaza for the sake of peace.” Gold said the secretary ignored public opinion polls that showed Israeli support for the retention of the Jordan Valley.

“Having decided to convene the Annapolis meeting, the Bush administration is under enormous pressure to make sure it succeeds,” Gold said. “The situation that has been created provides the Arab states with enormous leverage over Washington to revise its positions on the core issues in order to obtain their attendance at a high enough level.”

“Even if the U.S. does not issue its own statement in lieu of the joint statement, a revised U.S. position could come in the form of a presidential address or even private communications from Washington to Arab capitals that erode the Bush letter and empty it of much of its original content,” Gold said.

On the eve of the Middle East peace conference scheduled for Nov. 27 in Annapolis, Md., Israeli officials braced for a sea change in U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“As bad as it might look from the outside, the truth is 10 times worse,” a senior Israeli military officer told the Jerusalem Post. “This is a nightmare. The Americans have never been so hostile.”

Source

Share This

If this is your first time visiting Bible Prophecy In The News, I'd like to invite you to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Written by admin · Filed Under Israel Gods Timepiece 

Comments

Got something to say?





Close
E-mail It