A DEMOCRATIC STATE WITH BORDERS DEFINED BY ISRAEL:

srael, With U.S. Push, Moves to Bolster Palestinian Election (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 11/14/04, NY Times)

Under American encouragement and, in some cases, pressure, Israel has quietly taken steps aimed at strengthening the standing of Palestinian moderates and has agreed to consider others now that the Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, has died, according to American and Israeli officials.

A week ago, for example, with Mr. Arafat in the final days of his life in a Paris hospital, Israel released $40 million in frozen tax funds to the Palestinian Authority after long resisting such an action, the officials said. In addition, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has agreed to consider removing Israeli security forces from Palestinian population areas, at the behest of the Bush administration, to facilitate Palestinian elections in the next two months, according to an official close to the discussions. [...]

There is also a discussion between Israel and the United States about what would most strengthen the hand of Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who has emerged as the principal Palestinian leader. He is expected to run for president of the Palestinian Authority, the post held by Mr. Arafat, and is trying to organize a cease-fire with militant groups.

Mr. Abbas and his ally, Mr. Qurei, may face opposition from Hamas leaders and militant factions in their own camp. As a result, the issue of what Israel can do to strengthen Mr. Abbas's hand is coming to the fore, said European, Arab, American and Israeli officials..

There is also a problem of the credibility of Mr. Sharon's plan to pull out of Gaza, which Arab and Palestinian leaders with the support of some people in Europe say is a kind of trick aimed at making sure that Israel continues to hold on to the West Bank in perpetuity.

For that reason, some officials said, Mr. Blair and Mr. Bush issued a joint statement on Friday reaffirming that the Gaza withdrawal, while a step forward, had to be connected to talks that would create a full Palestinian state in the West Bank as well.

"Everything that's going on amounts to the first indication that the United States is willing to apply more pressure to Israel, which is one thing we can do to let a new Palestinian leadership emerge," said an American official. "We can't not do it, and expect that Palestinian leadership to survive."

Mr. Sharon knows where the road map ends, but there's no harm in giving him a shove down the road on occassion.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 13, 2004 9:03 PM