NEW YORK- National Security Council adviser has publicly pressed Israel to “fulfill its responsibilities” under the Bush Road Map—yet did not say that the Palestinian Authority (PA) must fulfill its responsibilities.
Dr. Rice, speaking in San Antonio, TX, on Aug. 25, 2003, said: “Israeli leaders increasingly understand that it is in Israel’s interest for Palestinians to govern themselves, in a state that is viable, peaceful, democratic, and committed to fighting terror. Israel has to fulfill its responsibilities to help that peaceful state emerge.” (Reuters, Aug.26, 2003)
Dr. Rice did not say that the Palestinian Arabs must fulfill their responsibilities—even though the PA has completely ignored its responsibilities to arrest terrorists, confiscate terrorists’ weapons, dismantle terrorist organizations, and halt all anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement. Ignoring this reality, Rice said: “A new Palestinian leadership is emerging that understands and says, in both Arabic and English, that terror is not a means to Palestinian statehood but rather the greatest obstacle to statehood.” Dr. Rice made a general reference to the fact that “terrorist networks must be dismantled” —without specifying that it is the PA that must dismantle them— and stressed that “transforming the Middle East” will take “many years,” implying that the administration is not seriously insisting that the PA take immediate steps.
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)’s National President Morton A. Klein, chairman of the Board Dr. Alan Mazurek and National Executive Committee chairman Dr. Michael Goldblatt have sent a telegram to Dr. Rice, stating: “It is wrong and unfair to imply that Israel has not been fulfilling its responsibilities and that the PA has been fulfilling its side, when the truth is exactly the opposite. Israel has done what the Road Map requires, while the PA has fulfilled none of its Road Map obligations. The Bush administration appears to be adopting the failed Clinton policy of ignoring PA violations—a policy which encourages the PA to continue its violations, since PA leaders see that there are no real consequences for their violations.”