Jay L. Clendenin-Pool/Getty Images

U.S. President George W. Bush (Center-R) and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Jean-Louis Doublet / AFP
05/27/2005

The US leader, who shunned Abbas’ predecessor, Yasser Arafat, went out of his way to proclaim support for the new Palestinian chief, including a direct grant of 50 million dollars for housing and infrastructure in Gaza.

“The results of the meeting lived up to our highest expectations,” Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP afterward. Israel shrugged off the talks as diplomacy as usual.

The first visit by a Palestinian leader to the White House in four years was capped by a Rose Garden news conference. Analysts said if it produced little of substance, the symbolic valued could not be ignored.

“The way they conducted themselves in the Rose Garden signalled to the whole world that American-Palestinian relations are back to normal,” said Scott Lasensky, a Middle East expert with the United States Institute of Peace.
Perhaps most significant was the sight of Abbas standing as Palestinian president in the White House compound where Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been a frequent visitor.

Bush said Israel’s planned withdrawal from Gaza in August opened an opportunity to return to an internationally drafted “roadmap” aimed at the coexistence of two independent states, “I believe that the Palestinian people are fully capable of justly governing themselves in peace with their neighbors,” Bush said. He told Abbas, “We will work with you to help realize the dream of a free and democratic Palestine.”

Bush also ran down a list of obligations for Israel, including efforts to improve the lives of Palestinians in occupied territories and avoidance of any moves that would compromise future talks.

“Israel should not undertake any activity that contravenes roadmap obligations or prejudices final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Bush said.

He said Israel “must remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion” and insisted the controversial barrier being erected to stem anti-Israeli attacks “must be a security rather than political barrier.”

“A viable two-state solution must ensure continuity of the West Bank, and a state of scattered territories will not work,” Bush said. “There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and Gaza.”