WORLD : U.S. Backs Off on Mission to Israel
PARIS — The White House has decided not to send an envoy to Israel to assess Israel’s sincerity in proposing Palestinian elections because it might look like interference in Israeli politics, American officials said today.
“There is concern it might be misrepresented. Israeli politics are now quite inflamed, and someone might seek to use such a mission for political ends,†one senior U.S. official said privately in Paris, where President Bush was attending the economic summit.
“No one wants to give the impression we are seeking to coerce Israel,†the official said in explaining the reversal of a plan by Secretary of State James A. Baker III to send an envoy there this month.
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