Secretary Rice concluded her two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) today with a meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in Ramallah. "This is a time of optimism," she said.
Yesterday, she declared, "We will ask of our partners and our friends in Israel [to] continue to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and… the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state."
She explained that though she would not be present at tomorrow's summit meeting involving Prime Minister Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Abu Mazen, the U.S. would still take an active role in the process. "It's a good thing when the parties and the regional leaders can push this forward on their own," she said. "You needn't worry. The United States will be there whenever needed."
She said that Gen. William Ward, who headed the NATO force in Bosnia, has been charged with helping to rehabilitate the PA security bodies and mediate between Israel and the PA in security matters.
At a press conference today following her meeting with Abu Mazen, Secretary Rice said that the U.S. would grant over $40 million to the PA right away, as part of the $350 million that President Bush has promised. She further said that American observers would be dispatched to the region.
Ending her first trip abroad as Secretary of State, Ms. Rice said both Abbas and Sharon have accepted invitations for separate meetings with President Bush at the White House in the spring. She was full of praise for Israel, Egypt and the PA for their willingness to take part in the summit.
"I'm sure that the Israeli government will fulfill its promises to dismantle illegal outposts and not expand existing settlements," she said.
Commenting on a controversial internal Israeli issue that divided the country a few days ago, Rice said that the Bush Administration was concerned over the confiscation of Arab lands in eastern Jerusalem. A recently-reported Israeli government decision confirmed that Absentee Owner laws applied to eastern Jerusalem just as it did to the rest of the country, but Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz voided the decision last week.
Abu Mazen said today that the Arab terror organizations had agreed to a hudna – temporary ceasefire – and that Israel must now formally agree to one as well. He said that he is coming to the summit with "clear demands, such as cessation of settlements, an end to construction on the partition wall, and Israeli deviations in Jerusalem."
Secretary Rice met with Israeli leaders yesterday, after beginning her visit in Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. She met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katzav, then sat with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for an hour, followed by a dinner at his residence with him and his closest advisers for another 90 minutes. This morning, she met with Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz.
Minister Shalom expressed his concern that the terrorists would use the hudna period to regroup and reorganize, thus preparing their infrastructures for any future stall in negotiations. “If the Palestinians do not do everything to halt the smuggling of weapons through tunnels, close the tunnels, close the weapons workshops, gather up illegal weapons - we would simply be giving the violent groups time to regroup and then carry out terror attacks that could collapse the whole process," Minister Shalom said.
Tomorrow's summit in Sharm a-Sheikh is scheduled to begin with a private meeting between Sharon and Abu Mazen, it was reported today.
Yesterday, she declared, "We will ask of our partners and our friends in Israel [to] continue to make the hard decisions that must be taken in order to promote peace and… the emergence of a democratic Palestinian state."
She explained that though she would not be present at tomorrow's summit meeting involving Prime Minister Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Abu Mazen, the U.S. would still take an active role in the process. "It's a good thing when the parties and the regional leaders can push this forward on their own," she said. "You needn't worry. The United States will be there whenever needed."
She said that Gen. William Ward, who headed the NATO force in Bosnia, has been charged with helping to rehabilitate the PA security bodies and mediate between Israel and the PA in security matters.
At a press conference today following her meeting with Abu Mazen, Secretary Rice said that the U.S. would grant over $40 million to the PA right away, as part of the $350 million that President Bush has promised. She further said that American observers would be dispatched to the region.
Ending her first trip abroad as Secretary of State, Ms. Rice said both Abbas and Sharon have accepted invitations for separate meetings with President Bush at the White House in the spring. She was full of praise for Israel, Egypt and the PA for their willingness to take part in the summit.
"I'm sure that the Israeli government will fulfill its promises to dismantle illegal outposts and not expand existing settlements," she said.
Commenting on a controversial internal Israeli issue that divided the country a few days ago, Rice said that the Bush Administration was concerned over the confiscation of Arab lands in eastern Jerusalem. A recently-reported Israeli government decision confirmed that Absentee Owner laws applied to eastern Jerusalem just as it did to the rest of the country, but Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz voided the decision last week.
Abu Mazen said today that the Arab terror organizations had agreed to a hudna – temporary ceasefire – and that Israel must now formally agree to one as well. He said that he is coming to the summit with "clear demands, such as cessation of settlements, an end to construction on the partition wall, and Israeli deviations in Jerusalem."
Secretary Rice met with Israeli leaders yesterday, after beginning her visit in Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum. She met with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and President Moshe Katzav, then sat with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for an hour, followed by a dinner at his residence with him and his closest advisers for another 90 minutes. This morning, she met with Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz.
Minister Shalom expressed his concern that the terrorists would use the hudna period to regroup and reorganize, thus preparing their infrastructures for any future stall in negotiations. “If the Palestinians do not do everything to halt the smuggling of weapons through tunnels, close the tunnels, close the weapons workshops, gather up illegal weapons - we would simply be giving the violent groups time to regroup and then carry out terror attacks that could collapse the whole process," Minister Shalom said.
Tomorrow's summit in Sharm a-Sheikh is scheduled to begin with a private meeting between Sharon and Abu Mazen, it was reported today.