Israel urged to lift West Bank barriers

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JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began another mediating effort in the Middle East yesterday with a call on Israel to remove roadblocks in the West Bank to allow Palestinians to move more freely in their own territories.

During her visit here in April, Miss Rice secured a promise from Israel to do away with 50 out of hundreds of roadblocks. But she said some of those that were removed were insignificant.

"One thing I want to talk to the Israelis about is the qualitative character of those roadblocks because not all roadblocks are created equal," she told reporters on her way to Jerusalem.

"It's important to go back and say, 'What effect is this actually having?' Because we don't want to get into a numbers game, in which you just remove X number of roadblocks, but it's really not improving the lives of the Palestinians," Miss Rice said.

Although some of the lifted roadblocks "were quite significant," others "probably fall in the category of not as significant as they might have been," she said.

Miss Rice, who held talks over dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas today, also said that she would "ask for the next iteration" of roadblocks to be removed, but did not mention numbers.

The secretary is trying to push the two sides to resume talks on a peace agreement that also would establish a Palestinian state in order to make some progress by the time President Bush visits Israel in 10 days for the celebration of the Jewish state's 60th anniversary.

She defended Mr. Bush's decision to attend the event, which has been criticized by Palestinians as disrespectful to them, because they say Israel's founding resulted in their decades-long suffering.

"Why shouldn't we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of this once-fragile state founded on the horrors of really one of the most awful moments in certainly modern human history that has grown into a vibrant democracy and vibrant economy?" she said, referring to the Holocaust.

"Celebrating that does not mean that you don't recognize that there were consequences for the people of the region from that founding, and we are still trying to deal with those consequences," Miss Rice said.

For that reason, she said, Mr. Bush has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, an agreement on which he hopes can be reached before he leaves office in January. He began an effort to do that at a large international gathering in Annapolis in November.

Miss Rice noted that the United States "was the first country to recognize Israel, 11 minutes after it declared its statehood" in 1948, in a "very historic and courageous decision" by President Truman.

A senior State Department official traveling with the secretary said that, during her trip, she will address the growing frustration in the region about the "content, pace and direction" of the Annapolis process.

She will try to "balance her encouragement" to Israelis and Palestinians with the need to "reconcile a skeptical public opinion."

Before Miss Rice's arrival yesterday, Mr. Abbas' security forces began deploying to the northern West Bank city of Jenin for a law-and-order campaign meant to show that the government is laying the ground for statehood.

The campaign, dubbed "Operation Smile and Hope," is being carried out in coordination with Israel. Jeeps and buses carrying up to 500 men left other West Bank cities for Jenin, and an additional 150 already in Jenin also will take part in the operation.

The United States views the campaign as a proving ground for Mr. Abbas' forces, some of whom have received U.S.-funded training in Jordan. They would target criminals, such as car thieves, and would confiscate illegal weapons, Palestinian officials said.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.