Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian Authority counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, each will seek to persuade the American leader to lean on the other side to move faster — and Bush will be ready to lean on both, Israeli analysts believe.
In fact, much of this week\’s aid talk may be political playacting intended to give a boost to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in his reelection bid, not to produce real shekels in the Israeli treasury.
\”It highlights the fact that the myth — that all terror against Israel is because it occupies Palestinian territories — is wrong,\” said Matthew Levitt, a terrorism expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
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