Haaretz has a clear message for Bush as he feebly attempts to get peace talks re-energized: “The realization of this aspiration of the right-wing groups will leave not a single stone in place in Vice Premier Haim Ramon’s plan to divide Jerusalem according to ethnicity, according to the principles of Bill Clinton’s outlines of December 2000. The creeping annexation of parts of the Arab neighborhoods will turn a political conflict into a religious struggle, which will prevent any diplomatic solution. It will also arouse the entire Arab and Muslim world against Israel. The United States, Israel’s greatest friend and the broker of the two-state vision, will not emerge clean either.

When he landed yesterday on Israeli soil, Bush declared that “the Israelis are our close friends.” A close friend of the Israelis is not permitted to stand on the sidelines while their government is playing with matches next to a barrel of explosives.”

Rope a Dope

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