Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:

We are dismayed that, while in the thick of controversy on allied support for military action in Iraq, President Bush today made a major policy statement on Middle East peace.

We have been supportive and continue to be supportive of the President's vision of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations laid out in his June 24 speech and recently articulated in his February speech at the American Enterprise Institute. The President was right when he said that after a war with Iraq we may be in a new era, with new opportunities for Mideast peace. We are troubled, however, with the timing of today's statement.

Little has changed in Israeli-Palestinian relations since the President's articulation of his vision. Palestinian terrorism continues unabated and the reforms promised by the Palestinian Authority leadership are are just beginning to emerge. The Administration's current initiative sets a terrible precedent by appearing to placate those nations who are opposed to America's confrontation with Iraq.

The damage of the Administration's statement and its timing was compounded by British Prime Minister Tony Blair's remarks directly linking the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Iraq.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.