US says parade of officials visiting Israel purely coincidental

Published today (updated) 26/07/2009 16:30

 Bethlehem - Ma'an/Agencies -

US President Barack Obama will dispatch four of his most senior foreign policy advisors to Israel this week.

The visits seemed designed to pressure Israel on two issues, ending illegal settlement activities and holding off on attacking Iran.

But that all four officials will arrive in Israel almost consecutively was purely a scheduling coincidence, American officials have insisted, according to the AP.

US Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell was the first to announce his visit, expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday for talks with the Israeli occupation government prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on restarting stalled peace talks.

"He wants to be clear that, you know, all sides are creating the conditions, putting themselves in position so that when we begin a formal negotiating process, we've put ourselves in the best position to have a successful outcome," US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said of the visit on Friday.

Mitchell's planned talks this Tuesday would be the first of three scheduled meetings not to be cancelled by the Israelis, the Hebrew-language Yedioth Ahronoth has reported. A meeting scheduled earlier this month was postponed at the last minute, while one scheduled for Paris in June was cancelled altogether.

Mitchell was to arrive in Israel last Sunday before the cancellation was announced, with some sources telling the paper they speculated it was because Netanyahu's new administration had not yet managed to seal a deal with the Americans on its illegal settlement activities in Palestinian lands.

The prior meeting was supposed to be between Mitchell and Ehud Barak, the Israeli occupation government so-called defense minister. Barak has lately been handling such responsibilities due to the perception that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman would be biased in favor of the illegal Israeli settlements, one of which he lives in, near the Palestinian West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Both the US and France summoned their Israeli ambassadors last week over a planned illegal settlement in East Jerusalem. Israeli officials responded in force, accusing the Americans of meddling and insisting that all of Jerusalem is their capital. However the international community, including the US and France, has never signed on to Israel's claims on East Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the US is sending over three other officials in an apparent attempt to persuade Israel not to attack Iran over its alleged nuclear program.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected on Monday, but American officials insisted his visit was routine. National Security Advisor James Jones and former Mideast negotiator Dennis Ross were to arrive later in the week, as well as some Treasury Department officials.