Bush convinces Olmert to work with Abbas

washington | One quality President Bush was looking for in Ehud Olmert during their marathon meeting this week was how well Israel's new leader is able to stop, breathe and listen.

Bush administration officials, while clearly focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, want to slow down a process that seems to be careening out of control, both in the region and in the halls of Congress.

Taking a break from their five-hour session to address reporters Tuesday, May 23, the leaders appeared to have come to an accommodation.

Olmert said he would delay his march toward a unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, something he had said earlier was all but inevitable because he did not see a credible Palestinian peace partner.

"I intend to exhaust every possibility to promote peace with the Palestinians according to the road map, and I extend my hand in peace to Mahmoud Abbas, the elected president of the Palestinian Authority," the prime minister said, referring to the peace plan backed by the United States. "I hope he will take the necessary steps, which he committed to, in order to move forward."

For his part, Bush warmly endorsed the possibility of unilateral action, as long as Olmert exhausted all other options.

"I would call them bold ideas," Bush said of the unilateral actions Olmert outlined. "These ideas could lead to a two-state solution if a pathway to progress on the road map is not open in the period ahead. His ideas include the removal of most Israeli settlements, except for the major Israeli population centers in the West Bank."

Emboldened by Bush's endorsement, Olmert said the major settlements "would remain under Israeli control and become part of the state of Israel as part of the final-status agreement."

That was the most unequivocal to-date statement signaling Olmert's intention to annex the major Jewish settlements.

In a briefing to Hebrew-speaking reporters, including JTA, late Tuesday evening, Olmert said he would embark on an international tour this summer to explain his plans to world leaders. He intends to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah II of Jordan in the region. He then will continue on to meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Jacques Chirac of France and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The goal is to pressure Abbas into confronting Hamas and to prepare the ground for Israel's unilateral actions should that effort fail, Olmert told reporters at Blair House, the Washington guest residence where he was staying.

On Wednesday, May 24, the prime minister addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, an honor afforded to few foreign leaders. In his speech, which was interrupted several times by warm applause and standing ovations, Olmert reiterated that he is ready to negotiate with Abbas, but would not entertain contacts with the Hamas-led Palestinian Cabinet until the group renounces terrorism and recognizes the state of Israel.

If negotiations fail, Olmert said to Congress, he is ready to conduct a unilateral withdrawal from parts of the West Bank.

The last time Bush and Olmert met was in 1998, when Bush was the governor of Texas and Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem.

Olmert said he would meet with Abbas soon, reversing his earlier dismissals of the Palestinian Authority president as ineffectual after the victory of rival party Hamas in the Palestinian elections in January.

"Mahmoud Abbas was deprived of all his powers," Olmert said in a CNN interview Sunday. "He is powerless. He is helpless. He is unable to even stop the minimal terror activities among the Palestinians, so how can he seriously negotiate with Israel and assume responsibility for the most major, fundamental issues that are in controversy between us and them?"

In that view, Olmert has a powerful ally: the U.S. House of Representatives, which voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to cut off aid to the Palestinian Authority. Like Olmert, the House largely ignores Abbas as an alternative.

In fact, the provisions of the bill the House passed, which also severely limit humanitarian aid and restrict the movement of Palestinian officials in the United States, may outlive a Hamas government.

The bill, approved 361-37, split the pro-Israel community in Washington. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee welcomed its passage.

"Today Congress made it clear that Hamas' decision to continue its support for terrorism has direct and immediate consequences," said AIPAC, which lobbied hard for the bill.

Americans for Peace Now, the Israel Policy Forum and Brit Tzedek v'Shalom all opposed the bill, saying its restrictions would burden peacemaking. Peace Now said the bill "is an exercise in overreaching that will undercut American national security needs, Israeli interests and hope for the Palestinian people."

The Bush administration, which believes the Hamas government might not live out the year, fears the bill would tie its hands in a region the president still hopes to transform before his departure from office.