Bush urges Israel to give land for Palestinian state

President Bush has urged Israel to withdraw from territory captured in the 1967 Mideast war and to turn the land over to the Palestinians for a state.

“What we must do now is take advantage of an opportunity to begin the process of the development of a Palestinian state,” Bush said after meeting at the White House with King Abdullah of Jordan.

Bush also promised not to “prejudice the outcome” of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians when and if they are held.

The talks, which the United States, the Europeans, Arabs and Israel all say they seek under a so-called “road map” for peacemaking, are on hold.

Neither Bush nor Abdullah gave any indication of a new approach to get them started.

At a news conference with the king, Bush did not repeat the assurances he gave Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month that he supports Israel’s retention of some West Bank settlements as part of an overall agreement with the Palestinians.

Bush said all such issues must be negotiated against the backdrop of UN Security Council resolutions of 1967 and 1973 that called on Israel to withdraw from captured land.

“The United States will not prejudice the outcome of those negotiations,” Bush said in response to widespread Arab and European complaints that he was tilted toward Israel in the long-standing dispute with the Arabs.

Bush said he was committed to his vision of a Palestinian state and echoed Arab demands that it be viable and contiguous.

He added that “Jordan and the United States share a vision for a free, stable and prosperous Middle East”.

Bush reaffirmed his endorsement of Sharon’s plan to withdraw all Israeli troops and 7,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza and to pull out of parts of the West Bank, saying it was a “bold plan” that could lead to Palestinian statehood.

A few weeks earlier, Bush publicly supported Israel’s retention of some population clusters on the West Bank and backed Israel in opposing the settlement of Palestinian refugees in Israel.

He said “new realities” had emerged in the 37 years since the end of the Six-Day war – a clear reference to the 225,000 Israeli Jews who live on the West Bank.

Bush did not repeat the statements he made to Sharon in a letter and at a news conference. Nor did he make any reference to Palestinian terrorist attacks on Israel.

Abdullah said Israel must withdraw to the borders it held before the 1967 war, which ended its 19-year occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem when it joined other Arab nation in fighting Israel. Egypt lost Gaza.

“All final status issues should be a matter for the parties to decide,” Abdullah said.

Any Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or the West Bank should lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, Abdullah said.