Courtesy of ISN Israel News
U.S. President George W. Bush is increasingly of the opinion that he made a mistake in becoming personally involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. That is what he is telling his close confidantes, according to a growing number of media reports.
Bush is beginning to admit mistakes were made in advancing the peace Road Map, reports Israel’s Channel 10 television.
Senior figures on Capitol Hill recently went public in suggesting Bush had become too involved in the process.
They warned he could face the same fate in the diplomatic arena as befell his predecessor Bill Clinton.
Bush is accusing Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat of being the main factor in the fall of former Palestinian premier Mahmoud ‘Abbas.
Bush was speaking during a news conference at Camp David alongside Jordan’s King ‘Abdallah on Thursday.
Reports from Gaza City suggest fighting broke out over the last 24 hours between Palestinian Authority loyalists and Hamas supporters.
The unrest began when Hamas members kidnapped a police officer and in response the Palestinian Authority arrested seven Hamas operatives.
During the violence a Hamas member opened fire and injured two civilians. He says he thought they were police officers.
The Lebanese-based terror organization Hizbullah says it wants to gain the release of leading Palestinian Marwan Barghouthi in any prisoner exchange with Israel.
There is optimism in Jerusalem that Hizbullah is serious in its intention to free an Israeli civilian and what are believed to be the bodies of three soldiers, kidnapped in 2000.
In return Hizbullah is demanding the release of as many as 15 of its members currently held in Israeli jails, along with Palestinian prisoners.