JERUSALEM, 28 May 2005 — Israel put on a brave face yesterday after Mahmoud Abbas won crucial backing from Washington, but seethed beneath the surface, blaming the Palestinian leader for failing to eliminate armed groups. Meeting a Palestinian leader for the first time since his election in 2001, US President George W. Bush on Thursday reaffirmed US support for a Palestinian state, praised Abbas and pledged $50 million in direct aid.

He urged Israel to halt settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, dismantle illegal outposts and withdraw troops to positions held before the outbreak of the intifada in September 2000. While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office presented the summit as business as usual, the right wing branded it a failure for Israel and the left wing clamored for more settlements to be dismantled.

But Israeli officials appeared unfazed, saying the warm welcome laid out for Abbas was only to be expected after Washington boycotted his predecessor Yasser Arafat for years. “Nothing President Bush said contradicts American promises vis-à-vis Israel,” Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert told public radio.

“Disappointment does not come into it because President Bush has not changed position,” one Sharon aide told AFP. “The president made no concession on the need to fight terrorism,” he added.

But neither the right wing nor the Israeli press were buying the line. “Bush’s speech was a defeat for Israel,” said chairman of the parliamentary defense and foreign affairs committee, Youval Steinitz.

“He praised Abu Mazen (Abbas), but he has done nothing against terrorism and allowed terrorist organizations to continue to rearm,” said the MP from Sharon’s right-wing Likud party.

The Israeli government has repeatedly accused Abbas of failing to disarm militant groups despite a de facto truce in place since the Palestinian leader was elected in January. Furthermore, Steinitz said the Abbas-Bush summit made “worthless” a 2004 letter from Bush that signaled clear support for Israel holding onto large West Bank settlement blocs under a final status agreement.