After Camp David, Clinton wants to help Israel

Adopting a strongly pro-Israeli position following the Camp David summit, President Bill Clinton says he plans to help Israel bolster its security forces and also may redeem an eight-year old promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Adopting a strongly pro-Israeli position following the Camp David summit, President Bill Clinton says he plans to help Israel bolster its security forces and also may redeem an eight-year old promise to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

At the same time, Clinton said it would be a "big mistake" for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally unless such a step was called for as part of a comprehensive settlement with Israel.

"I think there should not be a unilateral declaration," Clinton said. "And if there is, our entire relationship would be reviewed." Any such move would be tantamount to walking away from the peace process, he said.

Clinton commented Thursday evening in an interview with Israeli television that was broadcast on Friday. He spoke three days after the Camp David summit ended without agreement following 14 days of discussions. The main stumbling block was conflicting claims over Jerusalem.

The president's statements were seen as a boost for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who faces a political challenge at home from rivals who have criticized his peacemaking.

But Nabil Shaath, the Palestinian minister of planning and international cooperation and a Camp David negotiator, said Clinton was being "unfair."

"He should be worried about (Israeli) settlement activities instead," Shaath said. "I would like to see Mr. Clinton remain a warrior for peace, the knight in shining armor he was at Camp David."

Assistant Secretary of State Edward Walker is certain to hear about Clinton's comments when he tours the Arab world over the next two weeks for an exchange of views on the state of the peace process.

A senior official, asking not to be identified, said the two-week trip will include stops in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen and perhaps others. He said the precise chronology is still being worked out. Excluded from the itinerary will be countries with which the United States does not have diplomatic ties.

While crediting Arafat with making some moves that he had not made before, Clinton said he thought Barak was "the more creative and more courageous" of the two.

In recognition of Barak's efforts and of the recent Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Clinton said his administration will undertake a review to see what can be done to ensure that Israel maintains its qualitative edge and modernizes its defense forces.

He said there is a need for Israel to "upgrade its security" in light of its recent withdrawal from the buffer zone it had maintained in southern Lebanon for years. U.S. security assistance to Israel was dlrs 1.8 billion last year.

On the question of moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel, Clinton said he always supported such a shift but refrained from doing so because it could have undermined the U.S. role as a broker in the peace process - a rationale used by several predecessors.

"But in light of what has happened, I've taken that decision under review and I'll make a decision sometime between now and the end of the year on that," he said.

Asked whether he would move the embassy even in the absence of an agreement with the Palestinians, Clinton said, "I think I should stand on the words I said. I have always wanted to do it. I've always thought it was the right thing to do."

Only a few countries have accepted Israel's claim to all of Jerusalem. Clinton, running for the White House eight years ago, promised he would move the U.S. Embassy there if elected but has declined to do so.

Arafat and others have said that the Palestinians are ready to declare a state on Sept. 13, which is the deadline for a final peace accord, if no deal is reached by then.

However, in a joint statement at the end of Camp David, the Israelis and Palestinians said they recognized the importance of "avoiding unilateral actions that prejudge the outcome of negotiations." And since Arafat's return, he has not directly answered questions about the Sept. 13 deadline.