FURTHER ON DOWN THE ROAD

U.S. Says Sharon Is Set to Endorse Bush's Peace Plan (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 5/23/03, NY Times)

The White House has reached a tentative agreement for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel to make, for the first time, a qualified endorsement of the Bush administration's phased plan for the creation of a Palestinian state, administration officials said today.

White House officials also said today that President Bush planned to meet next month in the Middle East with Mr. Sharon and the Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas.

The endorsement, which could be a breakthrough in the Middle East peace effort, was hammered out on Tuesday with Mr. Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass.

The wording of Mr. Sharon's endorsement of the peace plan, known as the road map, was not disclosed. Mr. Weisglass, Mr. Sharon's top aide, was due in Israel today for meetings on how to present the endorsement to the Israeli cabinet, American officials said.

The peace plan calls for a series of reciprocal steps leading to establishment of a Palestinian state and a secure and peaceful environment for Israel. The Palestinians endorsed the plan but Israel has balked.

The administration had been seeking some artful language that would allow Mr. Sharon to endorse the plan, but somewhat ambiguously, making it possible for him to tell his fractious cabinet that he had not really endorsed it in its entirety.

"The idea is that Israel accepts the principles, the framework and the process of the road map and the two-state solution," said a diplomat, referring to Israel and a future Palestine. "But Israel would not accept every detail. It doesn't mean Israel won't have comments on certain issues."

The only part of the map that matters is the final destination: statehood. Posted by Orrin Judd at May 23, 2003 8:43 AM