Bush Middle East Role Limited as Israel, Arabs Fight (Update3)

By Janine Zacharia

July 13 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush and U.S. diplomats, distracted by threats from North Korea to Iraq, are playing a minor role as an escalating confrontation between Israelis and Arabs risks wider Middle East violence.

David Welch, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, and Elliott Abrams, deputy assistant to the president, only arrived in the region yesterday, 17 days after the abduction of an Israeli soldier in the Gaza Strip set off the crisis. Bush hasn't spoken to any Middle Eastern leaders in the past couple of weeks, according to National Security Council spokesman Frederick Jones.

``Up until now the administration's been on the sidelines,'' said Dennis Ross, the senior U.S. Middle East peace broker for President Bill Clinton. ``They've made a conscious decision to let this play out and let others take the lead. The administration is preoccupied.''

A year ago, Bush made expanding peace and democracy in the Middle East a priority, as a way to counter Islamic terrorism and improve economic prospects for Arabs. The strategy began to unravel when a stroke incapacitated Ariel Sharon, the longtime Israeli leader, and the anti-Israel Islamic movement Hamas triumphed in Palestinian elections.

Iran's nuclear ambitions, violence in Iraq and North Korea's missile tests pushed the Palestinian issue further into the background.

`Pathetic' Attacks

Bush today said after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Stralsund, Germany, that the Hezbollah attacks are ``sad'' and a ``pathetic'' attempt to further derail Middle East peace.

While Bush said Israel has a right to defend itself, he cautioned that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's response should not do anything to threaten the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Israeli warplanes and helicopters attacked Beirut's international airport and other sites today.

``We're concerned about the fragile democracy in Lebanon,'' Bush said.

The Russian government issued a statement through its foreign ministry criticizing Israel for using ``disproportionate'' force in responding to the attacks. France put out a similar statement.

Arabs to Meet

Arab foreign ministers prepared for an emergency meeting on the matter on July 15, according to Agence France-Presse. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa expressed concern about ``chaos'' in the region, the news agency said.

The U.S. Navy ordered its 226-foot ocean tugboat Apache out of the port of Haifa, where the vessel was involved in a ``diving and towing'' exercise, because of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, according to Lieutenant Commander Lisa Brackenbury, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon. Haifa was hit today by two Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon, causing no injuries.

Welch and Abrams left Washington before Israeli tanks rolled into Lebanon to search for two soldiers captured by the Shiite movement Hezbollah, marking the first incursion since Israel's May 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon. At least eight Israeli soldiers died in clashes with Hezbollah.

In Gaza, Israeli forces have carried out air strikes and ground attacks in an attempt to force Hamas to free captive Corporal Gilad Shalit. Hamas and Hezbollah say they want prisoners released from Israeli jails.

The U.S. today vetoed a resolution presented at the United Nations Security Council by Arab nations seeking to put pressure on Israel to stop attacks in Gaza.

Late Engagement

Martin Indyk, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel who now heads the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said U.S. ``engagement should have come a lot earlier'' and U.S. missteps helped Hamas win a parliamentary victory in January.

``That left us in a situation where we're not going to talk and all we can do is lay out conditions and pressure them and cut off aid,'' Indyk said. U.S. anti-terrorism law bars direct contacts with Hamas, which has carried out dozens of suicide attacks against Israelis.

The Hamas electoral victory also weakened the U.S. partner, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Ankara, Turkey, at the same time as Abbas in April and did not meet with him.

``There's not a lot of interest in meeting so long as Abu Mazen is seen as not being very forceful,'' said Ed Abington, an adviser to Abbas in Washington and a former U.S. consul general to Jerusalem, referring to the Palestinian leader by his nickname.

Syria in Focus

Ross said the U.S. has put too much faith in Egypt's ability to mediate Shalit's release. His capture triggered Israeli bombings and incursions into Gaza, leaving more than 70 Palestinians dead, according to the United Nations.

Rather, the U.S. needs to talk most urgently to Syria, which hosts Hamas's leadership and facilitates Hezbollah operations. Hezbollah's attack yesterday ``is obviously part of a coordinated effort to help Hamas,'' Ross said. ``And now there's a risk of a wider escalation, and the address for all of this goes back to Damascus.''

Rice said in Paris that ``Syria has a special responsibility to use its influence to support a positive outcome.''

A White House statement held Syria and Iran, as backers of Hezbollah, responsible for yesterday's attack and ``the ensuing violence.''

Assad, Policy

Welch and Abrams won't visit Damascus, according to State Department spokesman Gregg Sullivan. The U.S. pulled its ambassador from Damascus months ago because of frustration with President Bashar al-Assad.

``The U.S. administration made a decision a while ago that engagement with the Assad regime has not yielded the results that we would expect,'' Sullivan said.

In Germany, Bush said that Syria ``needs to be held to account'' for its support of Hezbollah. ``President Assad needs to show some leadership toward peace,'' Bush said.

Last month Israeli warplanes flew over Syria to send a signal to the regime and threatened to kill the Syrian-based leaders of Hamas, which they blame for Shalit's capture.

The U.S. has been working to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches Gaza without pursuing any mediation of wider Israeli- Palestinian disputes. Bush took steps in his first term toward resolving the Mideast dispute, becoming the first president to endorse Palestinian statehood. He welcomed Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and urged further territorial handovers.

Olmert Plan

The current violence has called into question Olmert's plan for more pullouts. A poll published this week by the Reut Institute in Israel found that 49 percent of Israelis oppose further handovers, compared with 38 percent who support the policy.

Analysts are divided on what the U.S. can do now. Ross said the U.S. should pressure Syria and ask Saudi Arabia to use its influence with Hamas. Indyk said American involvement may be too late.

``We should have been much more active earlier when it might have been easier to head off this disaster,'' he said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Janine Zacharia in Washington at jzacharia@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 13, 2006 16:15 EDT

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