Posted on 7-6-2002

Bush Says Make Palestine A State
By ELISABETH BUMILLER, NY Times

WASHINGTON, June 8 — President Bush said today that the United States must
start working immediately with Israelis and Palestinians toward
establishing a Palestinian state in the Middle East, and that time was of
the essence. But despite the urgency in his remarks, Mr. Bush also said
that the United States was not yet prepared to recommend a timetable for
the state's creation. "We are not ready to lay down a specific calendar
except for the fact that we've got to get started quickly, soon, so we can
seize the moment," Mr. Bush said in a joint outdoor news conference this
morning at Camp David with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Mr. Bush's remarks stopped short of the hopes of Mr. Mubarak, who in a
lengthy opening statement today called for "an agreed time frame" that
would lead to the establishment of a state that Mr. Bush now refers to as
Palestine. In an interview in Cairo earlier this week, Mr. Mubarak said he
would press Mr. Bush to support the declaration of a Palestinian state
early next year. "I don't think that violence will come to an end unless
the people feel that there is hope for peace and there is something to show
that peace is coming," Mr. Mubarak said, standing next to Mr. Bush under a
canopy of oak and walnut trees outside Holly Cabin, one of the guest lodges
at the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. "If they
didn't feel that, they will not stop the violence. It will continue forever."

But Mr. Bush, who is to meet on Monday at the White House with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel, said that before a deadline for a state
could be set, "we need to start immediately in building the institutions
necessary for the emergence of a Palestinian state, which on the one hand
will give hope to the Palestinian people, and on the other hand say to the
world, including the neighborhood, that there is a chance to live in peace,
to defeat terror." Later, a senior administration official at Camp David
said that Mr. Bush "is still listening" to Mr. Mubarak's request for a
timetable. The two leaders also offered differing views of Yasir Arafat,
the Palestinian leader, whose compound was once again attacked this week by
Israeli forces. "Look, we should give this man a chance," Mr. Mubarak said.
"We are working very hard with the United States for reform within the
Palestinian Authority. Such a chance will prove whether he's going to
deliver or not." But Mr. Bush distanced the United States yet again from
Mr. Arafat and spoke of the need to reach out to newer Palestinian leaders.
"Chairman Arafat, as far as I'm concerned, is not the issue," Mr. Bush
said. "The issue is whether the Palestinian people can have a hopeful
future. I have constantly said I am dissatisfied in his leadership. He has
let the Palestinian people down." Mr. Bush added: "I also happen to believe
that there is plenty of talent among the Palestinians and that if we
develop the institutions necessary for the development of a state, that
talent will emerge. The issue's bigger than one person."

Mr. Mubarak praised Mr. Bush for the American commitment to the Middle East
and what he called the American vision for the region, but indicated that
he expected a stepped-up involvement. "We look forward to a strong American
engagement in the coming phase to implement this vision," Mr. Mubarak said.
The Bush administration had avoided extensive involvement in the Middle
East peace efforts until late last year. Mr. Mubarak's comments came as
administration officials said they were leaning toward a new policy
statement for final peace in the Middle East. But the White House has kept
all details exceptionally vague, and Mr. Bush has said he will make no
announcements until after he consults on Monday with Mr. Sharon. "After my
meetings with President Mubarak and Prime Minister Sharon, I'll talk to our
country about how I think we should move forward," Mr. Bush said on Friday.
He added, "I don't know if it'll be a speech. Maybe a discussion. Could be
a paper. I haven't decided the forum."

Mr. Mubarak, who is eager to resume an important position in the Middle
East peace efforts, has persistently pressed the White House for an
American-led peace plan, saying that was the only way to stop the violence.
In an interview in Cairo this week, Mr. Mubarak also characterized his
proposal as fresher and more detailed than a peace plan put forward in
March by Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Under that proposal, Israel
would withdraw from all territory seized in the 1967 war in exchange for
full normalization of relations with Arab nations.

Within a day or two, Mr. Arafat is expected to make changes in his cabinet,
one minister, Nabil Shaath, said. Mr. Arafat is under international
pressure to overhaul his administration and improve security. Palestinian
officials say he is likely to reduce his cabinet to about 19 members from
32, and to bring in new faces.

Senior Bush administration officials said the latest outbreaks of violence
would not stop them from moving forward with a peace plan. Officials are
also reaching out to other Palestinian leaders in an attempt to overhaul
the Palestinian Authority from within. On Friday, Mr. Arafat called for a
halt to the Israeli attacks. "I am addressing this appeal to the whole
international world to stop this fascism, this Nazism, this dirty work
against our people," he said.