Bush Considers Plan for Interim Palestinian State

The Bush administration is debating whether to push for a provisional Palestinian state as an interim solution to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday.

U.S. officials acknowledged that the idea is virtually certain to spark controversy among Israelis, Palestinians and the wider Arab world for a host of reasons. These include Israeli concerns that such a step would, in essence, reward Palestinian violence against the Jewish state. Arabs, meanwhile, are likely to worry that creation of a provisional Palestinian state would stall movement toward a permanent one.

The White House hastened to note that the idea is just one of several on the table on the eve of the administration’s discussion about how to proceed in reviving the peace process. President Bush is to huddle with his national security team Friday to begin charting a course in advance of an international conference that the State Department hopes to hold as soon as next month.

The idea came to light as witnesses reported that Israeli troops had pulled out of the West Bank city of Ramallah, ending a two-day blockade of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat’s headquarters.

The weight given to the idea of a transitional Palestinian state was underscored when Powell talked about it in an interview published Wednesday in a leading Arab-language newspaper, Al Hayat, based in London.

The administration is committed to the creation of a new state, Palestine, which Bush first broached in a speech at the U.N. last fall and mentioned again April 4.

But because of the chasm between Israel and the Palestinians over how to achieve that, the State Department is working on the concept of an interim state that, though not yet spelled out, would provide a more formal government structure for Palestinians but defer settlement of the three major disputes. These are the borders of a new state, the status of Jerusalem--which both sides claim as their capital--and the return of Palestinian refugees.

Bush “knows that to get to that vision [of a Palestinian state], it may be necessary to have a provisional state, an interim step. It may take several steps to get there,” Powell told Al Hayat.

The idea has gained some ground, according to one well-placed U.S. official, because it could prove one of the few means of accomplishing often-conflicting goals. First, it could give the Palestinians hope and undermine extremists without having to deal with the thorny issues that have prevented a final settlement.

“You create a provisional state so that you have something in the very near future that the Palestinian people can see as a step on the way toward the settlement of this in a comprehensive way, something they can put their hopes in ... something the international community can invest in with some confidence,” Powell said.

Also, it might buy time for the Palestinian Authority to implement major reforms--which in turn could weaken Arafat’s singular hold on the group’s power and bring a new generation of leaders into a more democratic government before a formal state is born, said the well-placed U.S. official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Powell pointedly noted that the provisional state would have to demonstrate “good governance,” establish effective security organizations and stamp out corruption.

“If you can put all of that in that kind of a state, it will become more efficient and it will help us develop the confidence that is needed between [Israel and the Palestinians] to move forward,” he said.

A provisional state could also serve as the vehicle for introducing the formal mechanisms of a nation, including a constitution, a national assembly and an independent judiciary, according to State Department officials.

The idea of a provisional state is likely to spark sharp questions from Arabs, and perhaps outright opposition from Israel.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vehemently opposed any movement on political issues without an end to Palestinian violence against Israelis--which he blames on Arafat. Sharon stressed this position in talks with Bush on Monday.

Arabs, meanwhile, would need assurances that Israelis will not treat the provisional state as the final one and start building security fences around it, said the well-placed U.S. official.

U.S. officials acknowledge that they have their own concerns about the concept.

“An interim state is a flawed idea,” said a State Department official who asked to remain anonymous. “The problem is coming up with something better.”

A top Palestinian official also responded coolly to the idea.

“I don’t know what [Powell] means by that,” senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Associated Press. “The main thing here is to end the Israeli occupation and to have Israel withdraw” to its old borders.

Bush will meet today with the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al Faisal.

Faisal wants to ensure that the U.S. keeps its focus on finding a political settlement to the conflict--countering Sharon’s efforts to emphasize security issues first.