Bush Warns Sharon On Settlements

President Bush, concerned about the progress of negotiations toward peace in the Middle East, prodded Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon Monday to abandon plans to expand a key Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Sharon came looking for another show of support for his plan to shutdown all Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. Mr. Bush embraced it a year ago and did so again today. But he also made it clear he stands opposed to Sharon's plan to expand Israel's biggest settlement in the West Bank, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller.

Sharon said he agreed with the president on the general outlines of the internationally negotiated "road map" peace plan, but that some settlements in the West Bank are considered part of Israel and would remain under his government's control.

Standing at Mr. Bush's side, Sharon also said Israel would not move forward on the road map until the Palestinians take more steps to crack down on and disarm militant groups and ensure "a full cessation of terror." While Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has begun to act against terror organizations, recent violence against Israel shows that "terror is still continuing" and that Abbas "must take more steps."

"It should be completely quiet," he said.

Mr. Bush had praise for the Palestinian leadership, but also made clear more must be done.

"I appreciate the fact that they've taken some action on security," Mr. Bush said of the Palestinians after he and Sharon met at the president's Texas ranch. "We want to continue to work with them on consolidating security forces."

The expansion issue amounted to a rare, if gentle, nudge from Mr. Bush to Sharon and overshadowed a meeting originally designed to give the Israeli leader support for a controversial plan to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank.

The United States has objected to an Israeli plan to add 3,650 homes to the West Bank's largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim. The plan would cut off Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Israel insists it has the right to continue expanding these settlements. The United States opposes any further construction there, saying it threatens peace with the Palestinians and violates the "road map" that calls for a settlement freeze.

Mr. Bush said he reiterated to Sharon the road map's immediate demands: that Israel remove any unauthorized outposts in the Palestinian territories and "meet its road map obligations regarding settlements in the West Bank."

"I told the prime minister not to undertake any activity that contravenes the road map or prejudices final status obligations," Mr. Bush said.

Sharon pledged to the president that he would remove "unauthorized outposts."

"As to settlements, Israel will meet all its obligations under the road map," he said.

The Gaza pullout, scheduled for July and August, would remove about 9,000 Israelis from their homes. Sharon said the plan, for which he is under fire at home, has generated a tense atmosphere in Israel.

Referring to the mood in Israel, Sharon said in an interview with NBC News, "The tension here, the atmosphere here looks like the eve of the civil war. All my life I was defending life of Jews. Now for the first time, steps I'm taking to protect me from Jews."

Mr. Bush heralded Sharon for "his courageous initiative to disengage from Gaza and part of the West Bank" and for his willingness to coordinate it with Palestinians.

"I urge the Palestinian leadership to accept his offer," he said. "By working together, Israelis and Palestinians can lay the groundwork for a peaceful transition."

Sharon also told NBC that "maybe for the first time, there is a possibility to try and solve the problem" after there being no chance when former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat — "a murderer," he said — was still alive.

The meeting was the first in a series of Mr. Bush's meetings with Mideast leaders over the next month.

The president wants to be seen as an honest broker by both Israel and the Palestinians, reports Knoller. Mr. Bush is due to meet next month with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and before than he'll confer with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at his Texas ranch on April 25.

Some Crawford businesses displayed the Israeli flag to welcome Sharon, while a few dozen protesters waving Palestinian flags marched around the small town's downtown intersection Sunday. The Unity Coalition for Israel also planned a demonstration Monday to tout claims that Palestinian statehood would be a reward for terrorism.

The "road map" peace plan envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel but has been frozen since its launch in June 2003 amid violations by both sides.

Sharon wants Palestinian leaders to guarantee that Israelis will not come under fire during settlement evacuation.

On Saturday, Israeli troops shot and killed three teenagers in disputed circumstances in the Gaza Strip, shattering weeks of calm and raising tensions. In response, Palestinian militants fired at least 21 mortar rounds at Jewish settlements there, the army said.

Sharon, speaking to reporters as he flew to his meeting with Mr. Bush, said the mortar fire "is a flagrant violation of the understandings" reached at the February truce summit with Abbas.

"And this will be a central issue to be raised in my talks with President Bush," he said.