[Sharon’s assessment contrasts with Dahlan’s assurance that he was not asked by the US to disarm the terror groups – DB]

Sharon’s aides are convinced that in this visit [to Washington], or rather in the interval between Abu Mazen’s and Sharon’s visit, the administration’s attitude towards the new Palestinian government took a turn. This was the highlight of the visit, as far as they are concerned: No more discounts will be extended to Abu Mazen in the battle against terror. [The Americans] will no longer be satisfied with relative calm. There is an unequivocal demand for the terror organizations to be disarmed and eliminated.

This thesis was tested, successfully so far, on the White House lawn: Bush said it to Abu Mazen before the cameras, and repeated it in the press conference with Sharon. It has not been tested in the complex reality of the Middle East. Sharon’s aides believe that the American pressure will have an effect and Dahlan will begin to arrest Hamas operatives. “He is walking around with a lighter near a pile of gasoline cans. If he does not light the fire in time, the gasoline will blow us all up.”

Bush was surprised that the Israelis had imagined that he would waive the demand for the Palestinians to dismantle the terror infrastructure. “I set the battle against terror as a main objective of my foreign policy,” he said. “I am saying that there can be no peace with terror. I will not be the one to give in on this issue.”

Another part of Bush’s world campaign against terror is Syria. The Syrian matter arose in the working lunch that Bush held with Sharon and his extended staff in the White House. The things that were said there would make several mustaches in Damascus stand on end.

“We are concerned by the Syrian behavior,” said Bush. “We are conveying messages demanding that Bashar Assad immediately halt support for Hizbullah and the Palestinian rejectionist organizations. Our impression is that Assad is a bit strange. We thought he would be different than his father. After all, he is a doctor, and educated in the West. We ask ourselves, does he really control his country.” […]

This article ran in the August 1st issue of Yediot Aharonot

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