At a closed meeting at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, General Security Services (GSS) director Avi Dichter warned that a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would not necessarily reduce the motivation of terrorist organizations to attack Israel.
Dichter greatly doubts the ability of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to control Gaza after the anticipated Israeli withdrawal, and noted that its authority in the territories is fragmenting. Nevertheless, Dichter did not oppose Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's initiative to withdraw.
Israel Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon said the leak of Dichter's comments, which were spoken at a closed forum at the Embassy, was likely to end the informal meetings of senior Embassy officials in which they are briefed by senior visiting Israeli officials.
So far as is known, this is the first time in many years that the Israeli Embassy in Washington has been involved in a serious leak. Israeli sources said the leak's seriousness was due to the possibility that Dichter's comments to a group of Israelis, behind closed doors and about the proposed disengagement plan from Gaza, were not necessarily the statements Dichter made, or would like to make, in briefings on this matter to the Americans.
Last night, the Embassy spokesman said he could not even confirm that Dichter was in Washington. Other sources said that Dichter would brief the US intelligence community on security aspects of the disengagement plan, particularly about possible closer relations between Hamas and Islamic Jihad with regional and international Islamic terrorist organizations.
Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz will arrive in Washington tomorrow for a two-day working visit. He will meet Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Richard Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom is scheduled to visit Washington on March 21. He will also meet Powell, Rumsfield, Cheney, and Rice, as well as senior Congressional leaders.
The rounds of talks are intended to create a consensus between Israel and the US over the nature and scope of the disengagement plan, including possible evacuations of settlements in the West Bank, and to prepare the groundwork for Sharon's visit to Washington in late March or after Passover in April.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on March 9, 2004