THE PEACE DANCE AND CUTTING ISRAEL IN TWO

Israel to PA: Gaza Deployment Insufficient - Margot Dudkevitch
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told PA security advisor Muhammad Dahlan on Monday that the deployment of PA forces in Gaza was insufficient, as terrorist cells continued to fire at Israeli targets. A barrage of eight mortar shells was fired at Gush Katif on Monday, damaging a home in Neveh Dekalim. The defense minister demanded a committed crackdown on terrorist infrastructure in Gaza, which would include all groups, including the small ones; rounding up and interrogating suspected terrorists; and collecting illegal arms and shutting down arms manufacturing factories. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying they were in response to the shooting of a Palestinian girl. However, Israel said jubilant Palestinian rifle fire celebrating the return of pilgrims from Mecca killed the girl. On the West Bank Monday, an Israeli citizen was wounded after a Molotov cocktail hit his car near Migdalim, a soldier was wounded by a pipe bomb in Hebron, shots were fired at IDF troops near Jenin and Kadim, an explosive device was discovered on the Tunnel Road from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, and several Israeli cars were stoned near Beitar Ilit. (Jerusalem Post)

U.S. to Abbas: Militants Must Ultimately be Disarmed
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas would ultimately need to disarm the militant groups. "A cease-fire can help end the violence, but ultimately we need to dismantle those terrorist organizations that exist," he said. (Reuters)

Rice: No Peace Without Viable Palestinian State
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday: "Without a Palestinian state that is viable, that can represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people, there really isn't going to be a peace for either the Palestinian people or for the Israelis....We're going to be working with the parties, now that they've begun to make those fundamental choices, to push forward toward the date when we have a two-state solution. And I think it's in our grasp." (State Department)


Rice: Israel Must Withdraw from More than Gaza and Samaria
Rice met with Prime Minister Sharon's top aide Dov Weisglass in Washington on Monday. She explained to him the U.S. position that the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza is acceptable only as a prelude to the full Road Map plan proposed by President Bush. The Road Map plan calls for a "viable" - i.e., territorially-contiguous - Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Rice, as well, emphasized this point to Weisglass. This means that Gaza must be connected with a land-line to Judea, effectively dividing Israel in half, north and south of the Gaza-Hevron connection.

Rice at at Town Hall Meeting: No Change from Roadmap
QUESTION: I had a specific question about your vision of the role of the U.S. in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially after Arafat left, and specifically our relationship with the Palestinian territories.
SECRETARY RICE: Yes, sure. Well, in June of 2002, the President laid out a very important vision for how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved, but he said that basically the actors are going to have to make some fundamental choices, fundamental choices on the part of the Palestinians about ending terror and building democratic institutions and, at that time, finding new leadership.

He talked about fundamental choices that the Israelis were going to have to make about creating conditions in which a new Palestinian state could emerge, and, indeed, that meant that the Israelis were going to have to recognize that there was going to have to be land for -- contiguous land for this Palestinian state to exist on. And he talked about the responsibility of Arab states to end incitement and to support the peace process and for all of us to recognize that peace and security and democracy and an end to terror all go together.