White House spokesman Ari Fleisher said that despite Israel’s current action, the United States would not consider cutting off any foreign aid to its ally. U.S. Secretary of State Powell, who will arrive in Israel this evening, seemed resigned to the fact that Israel will not withdraw until its anti-terror operation is deemed to have been successful: \"However long the Israeli incursions continue, whether they pull out of everywhere today or whether they pull out of everywhere they are now in over a longer period of time, the problem will still be there...\" He did not repeat his demand that Israel withdraw immediately.
Powell will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Moshe Katzav tomorrow, and with PLO chief Yasser Arafat on Saturday. Some inconsistencies have been detected in the official American position, as Secretary Powell calls Arafat the Palestinians\' chosen leader, while his boss President Bush said earlier this week that Arafat has betrayed his own people by his refusal to call off the terrorism.
Cracks, too, seem to have found their way into the traditional Israeli position against international observers. Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sa\'ar said today that Israel would not agree to an international force in Judea and Samaria, \"but only to a small American observers\' force, at most.\"
Lenny Ben-David, a past Israeli diplomatic attach? in Washington, is optimistic about the future of American-Israeli relations. \"I don\'t think we\'re headed for a clash,\" he told Arutz-7 today. \"I don\'t think that Bush really believes in the toughness against Israel that his words apparently imply... Arafat is continuing to help us by not calling for an end to terrorism, and so do the documents that have been found showing that he is backing the suicide terrorists… William Safire in today\'s New York Times wrote that it is not true that Bush is frustrated with Sharon; we must know, therefore, that what we read in the papers, particularly in the hostile ones, is not necessarily true…\" Analyst Yoram Ettinger, Israel\'s former liaison to the U.S. Congress, has expressed similar optimism about Bush-Sharon relations numerous times on Arutz-7.
Powell will meet with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Moshe Katzav tomorrow, and with PLO chief Yasser Arafat on Saturday. Some inconsistencies have been detected in the official American position, as Secretary Powell calls Arafat the Palestinians\' chosen leader, while his boss President Bush said earlier this week that Arafat has betrayed his own people by his refusal to call off the terrorism.
Cracks, too, seem to have found their way into the traditional Israeli position against international observers. Cabinet Secretary Gideon Sa\'ar said today that Israel would not agree to an international force in Judea and Samaria, \"but only to a small American observers\' force, at most.\"
Lenny Ben-David, a past Israeli diplomatic attach? in Washington, is optimistic about the future of American-Israeli relations. \"I don\'t think we\'re headed for a clash,\" he told Arutz-7 today. \"I don\'t think that Bush really believes in the toughness against Israel that his words apparently imply... Arafat is continuing to help us by not calling for an end to terrorism, and so do the documents that have been found showing that he is backing the suicide terrorists… William Safire in today\'s New York Times wrote that it is not true that Bush is frustrated with Sharon; we must know, therefore, that what we read in the papers, particularly in the hostile ones, is not necessarily true…\" Analyst Yoram Ettinger, Israel\'s former liaison to the U.S. Congress, has expressed similar optimism about Bush-Sharon relations numerous times on Arutz-7.