-Caveat Lector-
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) cited concern that the United States is
undercutting Israel. (File Photo/Ken Lambert -- AP)
Bush Meets Resistance on Mideast Plan
Key Hill Allies Call for Greater Commitment to Israel's Concerns About Road
Map
By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 4, 2003; Page A18
President Bush's latest bid for a Middle East peace deal is running into
unexpected resistance from key allies in Congress. Republicans and Democrats are
pressing the White House to adopt a more staunchly pro-Israel stance, even if it
feeds the perception the United States is too closely aligned with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's government.
In a rare public split with the Bush administration over foreign policy, and at
a critical moment in international relations, GOP congressional leaders are
calling on the president and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to temper their
support for a long-awaited Middle East peace plan designed to implement Bush's
call in June for the creation of a Palestinian state within three years. Israel
has objected to certain parts of the plan, known as the road map, which was
drafted last year by the so-called quartet -- the United States, the European
Union, Russia and the United Nations.
The plan envisions a three-stage process that would create Palestinian
institutions, establish provisional borders for a state by the end of this year
and reach a final agreement with defined borders in 2005. Completed in December,
the road map's release was delayed at Sharon's request until after the January
Israeli elections, and again until the Palestinian legislature confirmed a new
prime minister. That confirmation is to occur by the end of this month, and the
imminent release of the plan has brought stepped-up concern.
Republicans and Democrats say they worry that the administration is undercutting
Israel by embracing the plan. There are many members of Congress concerned
about this road map, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) said in an
interview yesterday.
Sharon's government, and many in Congress, object to the non-negotiable nature
of the document and to its demand that Israel and the Palestinian take parallel
steps to move toward peace. Israel's position is that the Palestinians must
prove they have stopped all terrorism, and activities that Israel believes
promote terrorist activities, before it is required to take any steps, including
the withdrawal of troops and stopping the expansion of settlements in occupied
Palestinian territory.
In speeches this week and a letter scheduled for delivery later this month, GOP
and Democratic congressional leaders -- who are competing for Jewish voters and
donors -- make clear they will oppose any peace deal that does not first require
the Palestinians to change their government and end all terrorist activities
before imposing significant requirements on Israel. Several key Republicans said
Bush has privately assured them that he agrees with them. But they expressed
concern that Powell and British Prime Minister Tony Blair might manage to soften
his resolve.
There is a fairly healthy debate, even in this administration, about how you
get to a place of true peace, said House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).
Although Bush pledged his personal commitment to the road map in a March 14
speech, he said he welcomed additional contributions to the plan. That raised
concern among other quartet members that he was open to Israeli suggestions for
changing the document. Congressional opponents of the plan saw this as
confirmation that Bush's commitment was not total.
DeLay rewrote a speech he delivered Wednesday night to warn against treating the
Palestinian Authority as a trustworthy negotiating partner, an aide said.
Negotiating with these men . . . is folly, and any agreement arrived at through
such empty negotiations would amount to a covenant with death, DeLay told a
fervently pro-Israel crowd at a conference of Jews and Christians in Washington.
Experience and common sense lead to one conclusion about America's proper role
in the Middle East: We are absolutely right to stand with Israel, and our
opponents are absolutely wrong. DeLay said it was absurd for the State
Department this week to report that Israel has a poor human rights record. The
newly released annual document criticized Israel and the Palestinians for abuses
over the past year.
Several Republican and Democratic leaders plan to send Bush a letter this month
signed by dozens of members, imploring him to adopt a position more clearly
backing the Sharon government. There are concerns about Bush's recent
comments, said House Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.), an outspoken
supporter of the war in Iraq and co-author of the letter. We think this is not
the direction he ought to go.
Blunt, a key Bush ally, is the highest-ranking Republican to sign the letter,
which was first reported by CQ Today, a Capitol Hill publication. This would
