No surprises are expected when Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud ‘Abbas meets with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House on Thursday.
Reports from Washington indicate that President Bush will disappoint the Israelis by not reinforcing their demand to dismantle terrorist organizations before any further steps in the peace process are taken.
The Americans are apparently willing to wait until after Palestinian elections for concrete steps and for the moment accept a promise to prevent the smuggling of arms and terrorists into the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
‘Abbas will no doubt bring up the recent American aid allocation to the Palestinians which ‘Abbas claims caused him public humiliation when Congress routed at least one-quarter through Israeli organizations. He will tell President Bush that the P.A.’s finances are now transparent and some expect President Bush to respond by using his discretionary funds to give ‘Abbas a public lift in the form of some token aid allocation.
The Palestinians also want President Bush to pressure Israel against expanding building in the post-1967 territories the Palestinians see as their future state.