Wednesday April 18 4:07 PM ET
U.S. Knew in Advance That Israelis Would Leave Gaza
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States knew in advance that Israel intended to withdraw from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday when Secretary of State Colin Powell appealed for the withdrawal, Israeli and U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
Dore Gold, an adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, told reporters he thought the United States made the statement anyway ``for a variety of regional considerations.''
The strongly worded statement said the Israeli incursion into Gaza, in response to Palestinian mortar attacks, was an ''excessive and disproportionate response.'' It also blamed the Palestinians for provoking the attack.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States had expressed its view to Israel even earlier on Tuesday, leaving open the possibility that Washington's views did play a part in the Israeli decision to withdraw.
Gold, in a telephone conference call from Israel with reporters in the United States, said Sharon had decide to withdraw as early as 11 a.m. Israeli time (4 a.m. Washington time), nine hours before the Powell statement.
An Israeli embassy official said Israel informed the State Department of the plan to withdraw some time between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Washington, just in time for Powell to know. But Boucher said the two governments had been in constant contact.
Asked to explain the factors in the U.S. decision to go public, Gold said: ``The United States is a great power. It has regional considerations across the Middle East and globally.
``I'm not going to try and second-guess what those considerations are and how they specifically work on the drafting of State Department statements. We have great respect for what the United States says and take it very seriously.''
Israel and the United States agree, however, that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat should not use violence to try to extract political concessions from Israel, he added.
``When you look at the U.S. approach to Arafat's approach, I think you will have a great deal of U.S.-Israeli understanding -- far more understanding than discord.' he said.
