U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell\'s speech in Kentucky was greeted with relief in Jerusalem this evening. He called upon the Palestinians to take immediate action against terrorism and to stop anti-Israel incitement. He called upon Israel to stop settlement activity in Yesha. The Yesha Council said that Prime Minister Sharon should reject this latter call by Sharon, and should also object to his usage of the term \"occupied territories.\"
The suspense was great this afternoon as Israel awaited Powell\'s important foreign policy speech this afternoon. He stated earlier this week that he would not present a new Middle East peace plan. Arutz-7 reported earlier today that he was expected, however, to present his vision of a framework for a Middle East solution. Although he agreed in the past that the Mitchell Report - calling for a total freeze of Israeli settlement activity in Yesha and an immediate resumption of negotiations - could not be implemented while the Palestinian violence continued, he recently withdrew that condition. In particular, the tension was over whether he would continue to insist on \"seven days of quiet\" or not.
Prime Minister Sharon emphasized yesterday that Israel, for its part, will adhere to the conditions he outlined this past May: seven days of total quiet followed by a six-week cooling-off period before resuming negotiations with the PA. Uzi Arad, former diplomatic advisor to Netanyahu and now a member of the Interdisciplinary Institute in Herzliyah, told Arutz-7 today, \"The speech will not outline operative steps, but we still must not make light of it… I fear that it will reflect an erosion of America\'s pro-Israel positions of the past.\"
The New York Times reported on Sunday that 89 U.S. Senators had signed a letter to President George Bush, urging him not to restrain Israel from retaliating fully against Palestinian violence. The letter was intended to prevent Secretary Powell from including criticism of Israel in his speech this afternoon. The Times quoted one of the signatories, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), as saying, \"Powell talks about the cycle of violence that suggests one produces the other and that there is a moral equivalency, which is not true. Terrorists killing civilians is totally unjustified, and Israel\'s response is self-defense.\"
The Sentaors\' letter praised Bush for not meeting with Arafat, and stated, \"The American people would never excuse us for not going after the terrorists with all our strength and might. Yet that is what some have demanded of the Israeli government after every terrorist incident they suffer. No matter what the provocation, they urge restraint.\" One of the initiators of the letter was Senator Christopher S. Bond (R) of Missouri.
The suspense was great this afternoon as Israel awaited Powell\'s important foreign policy speech this afternoon. He stated earlier this week that he would not present a new Middle East peace plan. Arutz-7 reported earlier today that he was expected, however, to present his vision of a framework for a Middle East solution. Although he agreed in the past that the Mitchell Report - calling for a total freeze of Israeli settlement activity in Yesha and an immediate resumption of negotiations - could not be implemented while the Palestinian violence continued, he recently withdrew that condition. In particular, the tension was over whether he would continue to insist on \"seven days of quiet\" or not.
Prime Minister Sharon emphasized yesterday that Israel, for its part, will adhere to the conditions he outlined this past May: seven days of total quiet followed by a six-week cooling-off period before resuming negotiations with the PA. Uzi Arad, former diplomatic advisor to Netanyahu and now a member of the Interdisciplinary Institute in Herzliyah, told Arutz-7 today, \"The speech will not outline operative steps, but we still must not make light of it… I fear that it will reflect an erosion of America\'s pro-Israel positions of the past.\"
The New York Times reported on Sunday that 89 U.S. Senators had signed a letter to President George Bush, urging him not to restrain Israel from retaliating fully against Palestinian violence. The letter was intended to prevent Secretary Powell from including criticism of Israel in his speech this afternoon. The Times quoted one of the signatories, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), as saying, \"Powell talks about the cycle of violence that suggests one produces the other and that there is a moral equivalency, which is not true. Terrorists killing civilians is totally unjustified, and Israel\'s response is self-defense.\"
The Sentaors\' letter praised Bush for not meeting with Arafat, and stated, \"The American people would never excuse us for not going after the terrorists with all our strength and might. Yet that is what some have demanded of the Israeli government after every terrorist incident they suffer. No matter what the provocation, they urge restraint.\" One of the initiators of the letter was Senator Christopher S. Bond (R) of Missouri.