U.S. Plan for Mideast Reported

The Bush administration was faced Wednesday with a fresh report that it was preparing to pressure Israel to make territorial concessions, including part of Jerusalem, to the Palestinians.

Asked about it, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the administration values its relationship with Israel.

“We will always support Israel’s security. And it is the democratic nation in the region that we absolutely treasure as a friend,” he said on NBC-TV’s “Today” program.

“So there should be no concern on the part of any Israeli citizen or leader that the United States would ever do anything to sell them out or trade away their security,” Powell said.

Reports that the administration was preparing to propose a Palestinian state surfaced last week. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon complained that the United States appeared ready to appease the Arabs at Israel’s expense.

Powell denied the allegation, and President Bush said he supported the idea of a Palestinian state provided Israel’s security was protected.

On Wednesday, the Boston Globe reported that the administration was preparing to publicly increase pressure on Sharon to accept not only a Palestinian state but also a viable Palestinian homeland that includes a “shared Jerusalem.”

The newspaper said the State Department has prepared a draft containing that outcome.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Sharon sees that any settlement with Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority would involve a Palestinian state.

Boucher said the administration was trying to get Israel and the Palestinians to stop fighting and cooperate on security “so that we can get into this process of rebuilding confidence and getting back to negotiations.”