Israel tries to mend fences wi

Israel's chief peace negotiator Yitzhak Molcho is reportedly meeting with senior US officials to deliver Israel's replies to demands made by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton regarding Israel's seriousness about the peace process.

Israel dispatched to Washington its chief peace negotiator in a bid to end the acrimony between the two nations that has left the Palestinian-Israeli peace process in tatters.

Molcho's visit to Washington comes a week before both Netanyahu and Clinton are expected to address a conference of the main pro- Israeli lobby in Washington, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Halted talks

The Israeli and Palestinian leaders had agreed to start indirect talks before an Israeli Interior Ministry committee approved a housing project in East Jerusalem, which outraged Palestinians and Arabs.

The expansion project was made public last week as US Vice President Joe Biden was in Jerusalem to hail the peace talks. It left him humiliated and Washington extremely angry.

Clinton has reportedly made three demands to see if the Jewish state is ready to make amends for what Israel believes was a faux pas but what the Palestinians say was clear proof that the current Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not serious in any way, shape or form about the peace process.

The demands are that Israel make an immediate goodwill gesture to the Palestinians, that the indirect parley focus on the core issues, rather than become "talks about talks" as the Israelis prefer, and that Israel cancel the building project in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim to be the capital of their future state.

Israel's Interior Minister Eli Yishai said on Monday there would be no housing freeze. Netanyahu made a speech in which he hinted that he would not be the first prime minister in 40 years to halt building in the Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.

In the midst of the spat between Israel and Washington, US special envoy George Mitchell's planned trip this week to boost the talks by has been put on ice.

Media role

As far as Peter Medding, a professor of politics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is concerned, "difference" is a much better way of describing the current state of affairs than calling it a "crisis."

Medding, who has been following the American-Israeli relationship for decades, said there have been many similar standoffs in the past. Where there is a close relationship for a long period, there will always be highs and lows, he stressed.

"If you listen to Clinton and other administration officials, then the big picture or the basic framework is the commitment of the US to the existence of Israel, the security of Israel and the strong relationship between the United States and Israel... It 's not the beginning of the abandonment of Israel," he said.

That view appears to have been backed on Wednesday by Israel's ambassador to Washington Michael Oren. He was quoted earlier in the week in the Israeli media as saying that relations between Israel and the United States were at a 35-year low.

However, on Wednesday, Oren issued a strong denial saying he had been totally misquoted. When the building project news first hit the headlines a week ago, Oren was among the first to say that the issue was not as serious as the media was suggesting.

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Wednesday said "I do not think the United States and Israel are interested in any tension... In regards to what happened recently, I think we must reach an understanding as soon as possible. I am speaking with both American officials and Prime Minister Netanyahu on the issue, everyone is interested in reaching an understanding."

"For us, the US is a true friend... We want these relations and are interested in returning them to their regular, positive state," added the president.

In Medding's opinion, the media in both countries is fanning the flames of tension. The parties would be well advised to keep this debate far from the gaze of the journalists, Medding said on Wednesday.

There have no doubt been many differences of opinion on policies over the years, but they have been debated behind closed doors, Medding said, adding that both sides should not be airing their views in public.

Abbas' desire

The very open disagreement between the United States and Israel has also left Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a difficult position, said Shlomo Brom, director of the Program on Israeli- Palestinian Relations at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

On the one hand, Abbas really wants to push ahead with substantive peace talks, while on the other, he does not want to appear to be doing business with Netanyahu as the Israeli leader is ignoring Palestinian and American demands for a construction freeze in the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to Brom.

It is all about trust, he said. "Abbas wants negotiations, but only if they are effective. He is deeply suspicious of Netanyahu. And in my opinion with some basis, this is the real reason for the difficulties in renewing negotiations."

While Abbas awaits some form of message from Netanyahu, Clinton or Mitchell, said Brom, it is in his interest to allow the continuation of the ongoing protests by Palestinians against the Israeli policies.

There are two riders that must be attached though. Abbas cannot allow his main opposition, the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas, to appear to be taking over the running and control of the popular protests, and he must ensure the demonstrations remain peaceful, said Brom.