Throughout Bush's first term, the United States and Israel closely coordinated policies, often through White House channels that bypassed the State Department. Israeli officials, for instance, provided substantial input on Bush's June 24, 2002, speech in which he cut off relations with Arafat and demanded the Palestinians replace him. Rice, as national security adviser, met frequently with Sharon's chief of staff, Dov Weisglass.
Now, with Rice at the State Department, many expect her central role to continue. Her chief aide on Middle East issues, Elliott Abrams, will remain at the National Security Council but also will continue to work closely with Rice. Abrams will be in Israel during her visit.
 
Friday's Question:
| | |
|
Last week, Weisglass met with Rice at the State Department to detail a list of actions Sharon was prepared to take to advance the peace process, including releasing as many as 900 prisoners, pulling Israeli defense forces out of five major West Bank cities, opening a seaport in Gaza, suspending military operations against militant groups, and instituting a moratorium on targeted killings of militants.
Israeli officials also came to Washington with detailed maps of the security barrier being built around the West Bank and briefing books on high-tech border crossings being constructed to speed the passage of Palestinian goods and people through security checkpoints.
The Israeli government has sought financial assistance from the United States for building the transit terminals. A White House official said $50 million of the $350 million that Bush announced in his State of the Union address to "support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms" could be given to Israel for the terminals because faster passage through Israeli checkpoints is presumed to be a help to the Palestinian economy.
The Palestinians currently receive about $75 million a year, and that amount will be doubled in Bush's 2006 budget to be announced tomorrow. Bush will also seek $150 million for targeted projects in Palestinian areas in a supplemental 2005 budget request.
The $41 million that Rice will announce tomorrow comes from a separate pot of money -- a backlog of unspent funds previously allocated to the Palestinians -- that is intended to improve living conditions in Gaza.
Some administration officials have been wary about getting too closely involved in the retraining of Palestinian security forces because some believe Palestinians who received U.S. training and equipment during the Clinton administration took those skills and conducted attacks against Israelis. But the road map plan calls for the United States to take the lead coordinating role, and in London Rice said the "United States is prepared to play a major role" in the international effort to retrain Palestinian forces.
U.S. officials have discussed reestablishing the "trilateral mechanism," a coordinating group made up of the CIA and Israeli and Palestinian security services that began informally in the 1990s over dinners at the home of the CIA station chief in Israel.
The United States, along with Britain, also plans a major push to have Arab nations provide funds to support the Palestinians. Only Algeria, Libya and Saudi Arabia have fully paid up, with Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates especially behind in their support.
National Security Council officials have advanced a plan to use the untapped $400 million to provide $100-a-month stipends to impoverished Palestinians -- in part to combat the appeal of Hamas, which has an effective social service system. The money would also be used to create a retirement fund for militia members. In an effort to promote the idea, British officials have invited the Arab laggards to a conference in London on March 1.
