USA-ISRAEL

Independent: Bush Warns Israel To Tread Carefully

The United States has privately told Israel of three "red lines" it must not cross in its dealing with the Palestinians and the wider Middle East, according to the Israeli press.

According to the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the three red lines are: not to harm the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat; not to "shock the region"; and not to create "facts on the ground" that could jeopardise the Palestinian state promised in the US-backed "road-map" for peace.

If the reports are true, much less is being asked of Israel than in June, when the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, and his then Palestinian counterpart, Abu Mazen, agreed to the road-map.

But Israel has either crossed or come close to crossing all three red lines in recent months. In September, after a series of suicide bombings by Palestinian militants, the Israeli cabinet decided to expel Mr Arafat, only to back away from the decision. In October, Israel risked destabilising the region when it carried out an air strike on a disused Palestinian militant base in Syria.