Israel has dismissed comments made by the British Foreign Secretary, who suggested Western powers were guilty of double standards for insisting Iraq implement UN resolutions but not forcing Israel to do the same.
Mr Jack Straw cited UN Resolution 242, which calls on Israel to withdraw from lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, but has not been implemented. "It is our responsibility, yes, to deal with Iraq, and also, yes, to deal with the Israel-Palestine crisis," he said.
But an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said the parallel was unacceptable. He said Mr Straw was trying to "create linkage between a democratic country that wants peace, like Israel, and a threatening, warlike and dangerous dictatorship, like Iraq".
Mr Straw had said earlier this week: "I feel upset and angry about the plight of the Palestinians, but I also feel angry and upset about the terror under which the Israelis have had to live".
Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said Palestinians were encouraged by Mr Straw's comments, but that they meant little unless action was taken.
Mr Straw's remarks came as the United States and Britain were considering the fate of an international peace plan that envisions Palestinian statehood by 2005.
Palestinian officials said they have learned the United States is seeking additional delays and is unwilling to start carrying out the three-phase plan, which also envisions a Jewish settlement freeze in the West Bank and Gaza, until after the war in Iraq.
Mr Blair and US President George Bush were to hold talks at the Camp David presidential retreat later today, to assess the Iraq war, and the "road map" will be on the agenda as well, said the British ambassador to Israel.
However, Mr Cowper-Coles repeated that the road map would be introduced after Mr Abbas is sworn in. "It [the road map] is more important than waiting for the end of the war," he told Israeli TV yesterday.
He also confirmed reports that Israel has sought 100 changes to the road map. "Even if the road map isn't open for actual changes, we will see negotiations about the implementation of the road map in the coming days," he added.
AP