Washington — President Bush waded gingerly into Middle Eastern politics Tuesday, promising Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that the United States stands ready to help ease tensions in the region but "will not try to force peace" on Israel or the Palestinians.
On his first trip to Washington as prime minister, Sharon seized on the remarks as a sign that Bush understands his hard-line stance against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The U.S. president, however, also wants Sharon to ease Israel's economic squeeze on Palestinians and offered no hope of increasing U.S. aid to Israel, administration officials said.
Bush walked a fine line as he tried to show support for Israel, without angering Palestinians.
Bush, adopting a less aggressive peacemaking role than the Clinton administration, said he told Sharon that his administration will join with "nations in the Middle East to give peace a chance. Secondly, I told him that our nation will not try to force peace, that we'll facilitate peace and that we will work with those responsible for peace."
Sharon said he was assured by Bush that the United States supports Israel's view that negotiations can't be reopened until violence ebbs in the region.
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