Projo Politics Blog

WASHINGTON -- Israel and the Palestinian Authority can each make concessions that would ease their pursuit of peace, but the vigor of the U.S. role in the coming peace process is probably the key to how how well it works, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said today after a visit to the region.

``The constancy and the energy and the amount of American pressure'' upon the two sides may be the most important factor in the progress of a peace process soon to get under way, said Whitehouse, one of several members of the Senate and House who held extensive meetings with leaders from both sides early this week in Israel.

Whitehouse was part of a six-member delegation that met with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres and Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Likud party; and Palestinian Authority leaders including Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and chief negotiator Sa'eb Ereqat. They visited Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the West Bank on Sunday and Monday before traveling to Damascus, Syria, where they met with President Bashar al-Asad and Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallim.

The visit came as a renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace process is about to begin with George Mitchcell, the veteran negotiator and former Democratic senator from Maine, representing the U.S.

Whitehouse spoke by telephone this afternoon from Vienna, Austria, where the lawmakers are about to participate in a convention of their counterparts from European nations.

 Tags  Assad Israel Palestinian Authority Whitehouse

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