SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan, 22 May 2005 — While top Israeli and Palestinian officials met here yesterday to talk security, a US senator dispensed bitter pills to Arab leaders: The United States is not ready to risk the prestige needed to create a Palestinian state and America’s priority is to secure Israel in a way that, “if possible,” is just to the Palestinians.

Sen. Gordon Smith advised Arab leaders to worry more about injustices in their own countries.

“It’s a mystery to me why Arab countries can’t work on their own countries before Palestine is fixed,” Smith said in a discussion at the World Economic Forum.

Earlier yesterday, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei met to discuss Israel’s planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the recent flare-up of violence that may jeopardize its progress. “There’s an attempt to get the peace process back on track,” Qorei said.

But Smith, a Republican from Oregon, said the peace process — aimed at bringing about an independent Palestinian state — is unlikely to win a serious commitment from the Bush Administration.

“Until we have someone on the other side who is willing to say ‘Yes,’ we’re not going to continue to prostitute the American presidency to people who aren’t serious,” Smith said.

America’s top commitment in the Middle East is to secure Israel in a way that, “if possible,” is just to the Palestinians, Smith bluntly told a prestigious panel that included Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and top officials from Jordan, the Palestinian territories, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as academics from Iran and Turkey.

“Obviously one of the greatest commitments that we have is to the Jewish people and the State of Israel, to try and manage the difficult process of the peace there and securing that nation, and doing so in a way that, if possible, is just to the Palestinians,” Smith said.

In contrast to the Bush Administration bureaucrats, who seemed to contort themselves to avoid mentioning Israel in this Arab-focused conference, the congressional delegation seemed comfortable declaring their allegiance to the Jewish state.

Asked why the United States was willing to anger Arab countries in favor of Israel, another Congressman, Rep. Christopher Shays, said simply that America is not a neutral player in the Middle East.

“We are Israel’s strong ally,” Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It would be foolish for people to think that somehow we are neutral.”

In Jeddah, Saudi lawyer Bassem Alim said: “We thank Sen. Smith for stating the obvious and for reconfirming what we already knew.” He said that despite this, Arab leaders are still divided in two categories — the first disillusioned but yet hoping that America will in the end favor them, the second just wanting to play along. He asserted that it was now time for Arab leaders to take a united stand or just stand down.

Saudi businessman Abu Ahmad said: “With this senator’s statement, it is now clear that we have to take a clear and strong stand against the United States and Israel. And the stand has to be united.”

(Arab News reporter Samir Al-Saadi contributed to this report)