Bush: End IDF occupation of Arab land
Visiting US president says agreement between Israel, PA will require 'painful political concessions' and 'adjustments' to the borders drawn for Jewish state in late 1940s
JERUSALEM - US President George W. Bush, summing up meetings with both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, said Thursday that a peace accord will require "painful political concessions" by each. Resolving the status of Jerusalem will be tough, he said, and he called for the end of the "occupation" of Arab land by the Israeli military.
"Now is the time to make difficult choices," Bush said after a first-ever visit to the Palestinian territories, which followed separate meetings with Israeli leaders in Jerusalem the day before.
Bush is in the Mideast for eight days, trying to bolster his goal of achieving a long-elusive Mideast peace agreement by the end of his presidency early next year. Speaking at his hotel in Jerusalem, he said again that he thinks that is possible.
The president outlined US expectations for the resolution of some of the hardest issues in the violent conflict, one of the world's longest-running and most intractable.
Bush said that disputed territory must be mutually negotiated, but he said "any agreement will require adjustments" to the borders drawn for Israel in the late 1940s. He was referring to Israeli communities built on disputed lands that Israel wants to keep when an independent Palestinian state is formed.
At the same time, Bush reiterated that any viable Palestinian state must be "contiguous," saying Palestinians deserve better than a "Swiss cheese" state. But he offered no specifics to resolve the conflicting claims to Jerusalem, but urged both sides to work toward a solution.
"I know Jerusalem is a tough issue," Bush said.
Meanwhile, Bush named a former B-52 bomber pilot, Lieutenant General William Fraser, to supervise Israeli and Palestinian compliance with the roadmap peace blueprint, the White House said Thursday.
A former B-52 bomber pilot and pilot trainer, Fraser joined the air force in 1974 and is currently assistant to the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the US military, with particular emphasis on international relations and politico-military concerns.
