WASHINGTON, 4 October — US President George Bush on Wednesday angered the Arab and Muslim world and supporters for a Middle East peace when he signed into legislation a bill that requires the administration to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The bill, according to a staffer who works on the Hill, "Looks as though it was written by the Israeli Knesset for Israel."

"Essentially, the bill came into being because the US needed the money to pay their UN dues. They also needed to solidify votes on the Hill for the Iraq resolution," another congressional source on the Hill, who requested anonymity, told Arab News yesterday.

But the portions of the bill that has angered so many were tacked on after Congress had signed off on it, the source said.

"The Jerusalem Provision and the Lebanon Aid Restriction was also in the bill, along with several other provisions — all of which are not favorable to bilateral relations between the US and the Arab world," the source added.

Here in Washington, no mention was made of the signing of this bill in yesterday’s newspapers.

The Capitol Hill source told Arab News that both the House and Senate passed a version of the bill. "After that, you are not supposed to tack on any new legislation. But these new provisions were added on in the closed-door deal. They were thrust upon both bodies after the bill was passed, so there was no time to organize any opposition to them, or even express concern.

"Regarding the Jerusalem Provision, it is being treated as a non-binding resolution, but it is indeed a change in the law, and if they don’t enforce it there could be a legal action to compel them to enforce it by any member of Congress."

The source said that the chairman and ranking members of the International Relations Committee were responsible for tacking on the new legislation. They were specifically Congressmen Tom Lantos, D-California; Henry Hyde, R-Illinois; Joseph Biden and Sen. Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina. "Lantos was the ringleader," he said.

Congress was unable to debate it, the source told Arab News, because it was passed as part of the bill. He said another portion of the bill, called Middle East Restrictions Act, "puts some serious restrictions on the Palestinian Authority and PLO."

"Everyone should be furious about this, it is a huge concern, and was cut behind closed-door deals without any deliberation," he said.

Although disturbing, congressmen seemed resigned to acceptance: "There is nothing any congressman can do, unless if they introduce new legislation, and it just wouldn’t move. We were hit completely unaware about this, and we had about four hours to analyze it before the vote, they threw everything but the kitchen sink in this."

The new legislation, passed last week, calls on the administration to start immediately the process of moving the embassy to Jerusalem and adds three mandatory provisions that will significantly change the way the United States treats the city.

A provision to stockpile more US weapons in Israel was added to the bill, specifying that "not more than $100,000,000 may be made available for stockpiles in the State of Israel."

At the same time, the bill introduces harsh new restrictions against the Palestinians, including naming the PLO as a "foreign terrorist organization" and "downgrading the status of the PLO office" in Washington. It also prohibits the State Department from issuing any visas to "PLO and Palestinian Authority Officials."

And finally, the bill prohibits any US assistance to the West Bank and Gaza.