Posted on 03/18/2004 6:29:23 PM PST by Nachum
Until three days ago, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was still unsuccessful in his bid for a White House reception at which he could propose his Gaza withdrawal plan. Dov Weisglas, head of the Prime Minister’s Bureau, was dispatched to Washington to try and secure this meeting. On Tuesday unofficial announcements hailing a tentative meeting between PM Sharon and US President George Bush were leaked to the press.
Today (Thursday) that meeting was cancelled, with no make-up date offered. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom quickly boarded a flight to the U.S. to see if he could salvage the meeting, which seems to be PM Sharon’s sole strategic goal at this juncture. Various reasons were offered explaining Washington’s unwillingness to take part in the meeting and endorsement of a Gaza withdrawal.
President Bush has reportedly noted the growing opposition in Israel to Sharon’s Gaza plan – from IDF chiefs, to the Knesset, and even amongst the left-wing. He has therefore taken a step back – deciding not to allow PM Sharon to use an American endorsement of his plan as a way of bypassing Israeli public opinion, as well as that of his own Likud party.
In addition to those considerations, Israel News Agency sources indicate that in coming days a major announcement regarding charges against the Prime Minister and his sons are scheduled to be made. The uncertainty of the ramifications of such announcements, as well as their content, have made a meeting with Sharon into more of a liability than an asset – especially amidst the US election frenzy. Many of Bush’s supporters are conservative Christians and Jews opposed to withdrawals from any part of the Land of Israel and the US President fears losing their important votes in places like Florida.
"The prime minister wants President Bush to stand next to him on the White House lawn and endorse the withdrawal plan without reservation," a Sharon aide told Middle East Newsline. "It's a matter of a few sentences, but this could determine the success of the plan.”
But Sharon was not uninvited since he wasn't invited in the first place. Apparently some preliminary negotiations fell apart.
I'm quite sure that the US is explaining to Sharon what they want. Whether Sharon will agree is a different question. But the US is quite right to not allow a White House setting to be used by a foreign leader to propose something we won't support.
Like Vicente Fox blathering on about amnesty?
The second aspect mentioned is that Bush may be hesitant to endorse a party that may lose in internal politics.
But Sharon was not uninvited since he wasn't invited in the first place. I gather it to mean that there were on-again-off-again signals at the lower level, as the meeting was being prepared. Apparently things progressed far enough for this to be referred to as "uninvitation."
I'm quite sure that the US is explaining to Sharon what they want. Not necessarily: If the sole reason is indeed, "We are concerned you will not get endorsement in your own parliament," that would be rude to explain. Not everything has to be said.
But the US is quite right to not allow a White House setting to be used by a foreign leader to propose something we won't support. That is true of course. But if we don't, (i) this is usually known by foreigners, and (ii) if not, one question by an underling resolve all doubts. Neither is clearly the case here: negotiations progressed far enough, so we support that in principle but don't to put our weight behind it.
More directly he wants the prestige of the President of the USA to force his domestic opponents to support his plan.
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