[size=4][b]'We'll never sell you out,' Powell reassures Israel[/b][/size=4]
[i]By Janine Zacharia[/i]

WASHINGTON (October 11) - Secretary of State Colin Powell assured Israelis yesterday that the US would never do anything to "sell them out."

Powell was commenting on a now apparently mended US-Israel rift sparked last week by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's airing of fears that the US is appeasing Arab coalition partners in the war on terrorism at Israel's expense.

Asked about the Israeli concerns on NBC's Today Show yesterday, Powell said: "Israel is a strong friend of the United States. We will always support Israel and its security. It is the democratic nation in that region that we absolutely treasure as a friend. And 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 to trade away their security."

Some analysts said that President George W. Bush's telephone call to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday to inform him of air strikes on Afghanistan signaled there was peace between the allies. Sources briefed on the call said Bush did not raise Sharon's insistence that Israel would not be sacrificed like parts of Czechoslovakia to the Nazis in the 1940s. Sharon apologized that his analogy had been misunderstood.

But the potential for tension remained as the US continues to try to bring some of Israel's adversaries into the coalition and avoids taking a tough stance on anti-Israeli terrorist groups like Hizbullah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

More pressure is expected to be brought to bear on Israel to exercise restraint in dealing with the Palestinians and to begin implementing the Mitchell Committee's recommendations for a cease-fire and return to negotiations.

On Tuesday, in a photo opportunity with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Bush said "there would be no better stabilizer for our coalition than for the Mitchell process to begin in the Middle East." The comment illustrated how deeply Bush believes disquiet on the Israeli-Palestinian front could hamper his wider war on terrorism. It is a theme Arab leaders have been hammering home in meetings with administration officials here since the September 11 attacks on the US.

A top delegation of Israeli officials canceled a scheduled visit to Washington this week after the US launched air strikes on Afghanistan. Senior Israeli officials have been notably absent in the recent wave of visits by leaders to the US capital. Yesterday Ambassador David Ivry met with senior American officials at the National Security Council and State Department for routine consultations.

State Department officials had been discussing the prospect of sending Assistant Secretary of State William Burns to Israel and the Palestinian areas this week for face-to-face meetings with leaders. He had also been due to travel to the Persian Gulf. But a State Department spokesman said yesterday no plans were being formulated for such a trip right now.
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You just know I [b]had[/b] to post this! I mean, how many of you would voluntarily go to the Jerusalem Post website?

Eric The(BackInTheSaddleAgain!)Hun[>]:)]

Here's another little plum from Colin Powell for Israel! See story at: [url]http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/10/11/News/News.35998.html[/url]

Eric The(Business As Usual)Hun[>]:)]