Israeli prime minister seeks Bush's approval

Sharon doesn't want Palestinian refugees returned to Israel.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is looking for a sign of approval from President Bush for retaining a large chunk of the West Bank in an eventual accord with the Palestinians.
Sharon's hope was that Bush, perhaps in an exchange of letters at their White House meeting today, would accept the Israeli leader's contention that Israel's security required recognition of "new realities" on the West Bank.
In this way, Sharon would gain implicit U.S. backing for retaining several settlements in the territory, particularly large blocs near Jerusalem.
That would enhance Israel's chances of maintaining defensible borders, said an Israeli official Tuesday on condition of anonymity as he previewed Sharon's Oval Office meeting with Bush.
Palestinian response
The Palestinians, who want to establish a state in all the West Bank and Gaza, warned Bush against accepting Sharon's plan -- which also includes pulling out of Gaza. They fear Sharon is sacrificing Gaza and parts of the West Bank as a prelude to keeping other areas.
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia today said he hoped the United States would not agree to language "that is considered a reward for a party or a side at the expense of the other party. Otherwise, there will be no peace."
If Sharon gets what he wants it would mark a major U.S. concession on how much land Israel should yield in exchange for peace with the Palestinians.
Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan in a lightning victory over Arab armies in the 1967 Middle East war.
For several decades, U.S. administrations have operated on the assumption there could be some adjustments in the borders that existed between Israel and the Arabs before the war.
But Sharon eyes more than a small part of the West Bank, hoping to hold on to five large blocs of Jewish settlements there.
Refugees
On another touchy point, Sharon was hopeful that Bush would not support the return to Israel of Palestinians who claim their families were exiled during Israel's founding in 1947-48.
Instead, the prime minister was looking to the president to say Palestinian refugees should be absorbed by the Palestinian state that Bush has said he wants to see established next year, the Israeli official said.
The Bush-Sharon meeting is the culmination of bargaining that has been under way since mid-February between Israel and U.S. officials and which intensified this week before Sharon's arrival.
The prime minister met Tuesday night at his hotel for more than an hour with Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security assistant.
Bush wants to tie any Israeli pullback in Gaza as tightly as he can to fulfilling his promise of establishing a Palestinian state through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that are called for in a U.S.-backed road map for peacemaking.
The Israelis, meanwhile, want at least a signal from the president that he would accept retention by Israel of part of the West Bank where tens of thousands of Jewish settlers would remain.
Wanting more
Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed after their meeting Monday at Bush's Texas ranch that while an Israeli pullback in Gaza would be welcomed, it must be under a wider agreement that would leave the Palestinians with a state.
"I think any withdrawal from the occupied territory is very highly appreciated," Mubarak told reporters.
But, he said, withdrawal from Gaza alone would not be enough. "It will not be accepted by the public opinion in the area," Mubarak said.
Sharon has moved in that direction, promising to shut down 21 settlements in Gaza. But how much of the West Bank he is willing to relinquish, and how many of its approximately 220,000 Jewish settlers he would move, are questions the prime minister has danced around.
About 92,500 of the 220,000 settlers live in the blocks that Sharon has listed as those he wants to keep.