WASHINGTON -- In an attempt to neutralize the "Israel factor" in any showdown with Iraq, President Bush announced Wednesday that the United States is dispatching a top envoy to try to jump-start the Middle East peace process.
Bush also pressed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during talks at the White House to sit on the sidelines if a U.S.-led coalition launches a military offensive against Iraq. The president acknowledged publicly, however, that Israel has the right to retaliate if attacked.
"If Iraq attacks Israel tomorrow, I would assume the prime minister would respond. He's got a desire to defend himself," Bush said during a brief joint appearance before reporters in the Oval Office.
But U.S. officials cautioned that Bush was not offering a green light for retaliation, only an understanding of Israel's defense concerns. A White House official also said that although the administration expects Israel to stay out of the fight, it knows the Israelis would be unlikely to remain passive if they are the victims of an unprovoked Iraqi missile attack.
The administration promised Sharon that if a war against Iraq is launched, he will be given more than the 48-hour notice that he received on the eve of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan last year, according to sources. Israel has asked for enough advance notice to prepare its defenses against possible Scud missile attacks by the Iraqis.
For Sharon, the focus of Wednesday's talks was coordination in the event of a war against Iraq. But Bush emphasized the Arab-Israeli conflict -- an almost dormant foreign policy issue now despite the president's controversial initiatives over the last year.
In June, Bush outlined a roadmap for a permanent peace, which included a call for the Palestinians to change their leadership in exchange for a promise of an independent state within three years.
The Bush administration is dispatching Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns today on a two-week swing through the Middle East to generate movement, particularly in getting the Palestinians to reform their institutions and minimize the role of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat.
Burns will travel to Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Yemen and Oman, U.S. officials said.
