New U.S. Plan: Palestinian State Before Bush Leaves Office,Avraham Shmuel Lewin, <i>Jewish Press Israel Correspondent</i>

TEL AVIV - In a move to counter the Baker-Hamilton report, the Bush administration is boosting its involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a report in Israel's Yediot Aharonot newspaper on Sunday. Steps being planned include a series of measures that would embolden the Fatah movement and weaken Hamas.

According to the new plan, the final goal is the establishment of a Palestinian state with temporary borders within two years, before the end of President Bush's term in office.

The paper reports that last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a seminar attended by the State Department's top political brass involved in the Middle East. It included U.S. ambassadors to countries in the region and Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, who is currently acting on behalf of the State Department in the region.

The first part of the plan talks about measures carried out by Israel as part of the process of strengthening Mahmoud Abbas and creating an atmosphere that would allow for an upgrade in the ties between the two sides. In fact, this boils down to a series of Israeli goodwill gestures.

The meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas Saturday evening, say political sources in Jerusalem, fits the first part of the plan: At the end of the meeting a series of goodwill gestures was concluded, which primarily included easing Palestinian movement and providing direct economic assistance to the Palestinian leader.

Olmert also approved streamlining checkpoints and removing roadblocks "to strengthen moderate Palestinian elements," according to a statement from his office. Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said inspections would be eased at 16 checkpoints, and 27 unmanned roadblocks would be removed. Also, crossings for people and cargo between Gaza and Israel would be upgraded "in order to accelerate the economy in Gaza to lessen the poverty and despair."

During the Olmert-Abbas meeting, the Palestinian leader brought up the issues of prisoners and roadblocks, which topped his list of priorities. Delivering on those two items would serve Olmert's interests in boosting Abbas, but they would also cause him considerable political trouble at home.

Only a fraction of the more than 400 permanent barriers in Judea and Samaria would be taken down, but the Israeli army commander in the area, Brig. Gen. Yair Naveh, warned in a closed meeting that even that would aid Palestinian militants in attacking Israelis, according to security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli defense establishment recently implicitly and directly criticized a different political decision - to continue a policy of restraint in spite of the ongoing firing of rockets at Israel.

In all the security discussions held recently, senior IDF officials and Defense Minister Amir Peretz voiced their opinion that the existing equation must be changed and that the army must operate specifically against Kassam cells.

In the meantime, the IDF continues to operate as per the political echelon's orders. Defense and military officials fear that ongoing attacks from the Gaza Strip will lead to casualties and thus force Israel to change its policy. They believe the army should act now insteadof waiting for a serious incident to occur.

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