Washington – President Bush on Tuesday praised Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s plan for a unilateral redrawing of West Bank borders, saying it could be “an important step toward the peace we both support.”
But Bush, in his first White House meeting with the new Israeli leader, stopped short of full endorsement. He said a negotiated agreement “best serves Israelis and Palestinians and the cause of peace.”
Bush and Olmert depicted Olmert’s plan for Israeli’s unilateral withdrawal as one that would be turned to only if attempts for a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians failed.
Bush also urged Israel to reach out to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as an alternative to dealing with the Hamas-dominated Palestinian Authority. Abbas is the leader of the more moderate Fatah movement.
Abbas “speaks out for peace and negotiations,” Bush said.
Both Bush and Olmert called Abbas a man of peace. But, with Abbas vying with the Islamic radical group Hamas for control of the Palestinian government, the extent of his power is unclear. No one is certain whether a deal can be struck with Abbas or how meaningful it would be if Hamas rejected it.
Under his West Bank plan, Olmert could move on his own, without a Palestinian peace partner, to remove many isolated Israeli West Bank settlements while defending major enclaves Israel intends to keep. A border would be drawn by 2010.
Bush called Olmert’s ideas “bold.”
Still, Bush added, “I believe, and Prime Minister Olmert agrees, that a negotiated final status agreement best serves both the Israelis and the Palestinians and the cause of peace.”
While any final peace agreement must be the product of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, “the prime minister’s ideas could be an important step toward the peace we both support,” Bush said.
Olmert said he would go forward with his plan “in the event that all other options may not be possible.”
As to Hamas’ parliamentary election victory, Bush said, “Hamas must recognize Israel’s right to exist, must abandon terror, must accept all previous agreements.
“No country can be expected to make peace with those who deny its right to exist and who use terror to attack its population,” Bush said.
