The calls came in the wake of terrorist bombings in Israel and the Palestinian territories that threw new obstacles in front of the so-called "road map" to peace presented by Washington May 1.
White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the president told Abbas - who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Mazen - that all parties must take concrete steps to end terrorism and create an environment in which peace would have a chance.
In the case of Mazen, that appeared to mean effort rather than just results.
"The president has always said that what's important is that 100 percent effort be made by the Palestinian Authority to fight the violence and to stop the terrorists. But the problem is, if you set a standard of 100 percent success, one or two individual terrorists then can hijack the peace process and put themselves in the position where they decide whether or not the peace process shall go forward or not, because they attack.
"And that's why the president looks to 100 percent effort from the Palestinian Authority. And this is also why the president, as he evaluates the new leader of the Palestinian Authority, has high hopes."
Abu Mazen assumed the new office of prime minister May 1 after election by PA legislators. His election followed U.S. demands that leader Yasser Arafat be elbowed aside in the peace process because of alleged links to terrorists and because of alleged corruption in the Palestinian government.
The breadth of Abu Mazen's independence from Arafat and the reach of his authority are still matters of speculation. A number of armed groups oppose the peace process, including Hamas, which is often held responsible for many of the suicide bombings that occur in the country.
The White House said Sharon was told about the call to Abu Mazen and that "he (Bush) believes Abu Mazen is a reformer who will work for peace."
"The president also told the prime minister that the United States and President Bush are committed to the security of Israel," Fleischer said.
The bombings in Israel and the Palestinian territories killed at least 12 people since Saturday. In the latest incident, Monday, a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a crowded shopping mall in the northern town of Afula, killing at least three people.
The increase in violence led Sharon to cancel a scheduled trip to Washington for talks Tuesday with Bush over his objections to the "road map" for Middle East peace.
The plan - by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia - laid out a series of confidence-building steps the Palestinians and Israelis should follow toward a peace agreement. It calls for an independent Palestinian state by 2005 and security guarantees for Israel. The Palestinians say they have accepted the plan unconditionally but the Israelis say they have objections.
Sharon's trip to Washington was to deal with those objections - among them opposition to a demand for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. Israel also wants the Palestinians to control the violence before the plan can be accepted.
With Bush scheduled to leave for Europe for a meeting of industrialized nations, the prospect of his meeting with Sharon being rescheduled before then was probably "not on the cards," the White House said. That delay could further slow any momentum toward peace that the administration had been hoping for.
The recent spate of bombings is another factor. Some see them as an attempt by radical groups to derail the peace process.
"I think it's important to recognize there are clearly people who want to derail the peace, who are threats to the Palestinian Authority as well as to Israel and to all in the region," Fleischer said.
"Those people do not report or answer to responsible people like Abu Mazen, but the president does believe the Palestinian Authority and Abu Mazen can help, can be constructive, and he is calling on them to do so along with all parties."
The White House said Tuesday's discussion lasted about 15 minutes and that Bush came away confident of the Palestinian prime minister's sincerity in wanting to stop terrorism and move toward peace and a Palestinian state.
The conversation was the first between the two leaders.
"The president was pleased with the conversation," Fleischer said. "The president believes Abu Mazen is a reformer, that Abu Mazen is dedicated to peace, that Abu Mazen wants to do everything in his power to fight terrorism, to crack down on those that interfere with the peace.
"And import for this president, President Bush's judgment is that Abu Mazen understands that the future, success, health and welfare of the Palestinian people begins with attacking those who are violent and seek to derail the peace, as well as of course the importance of Israel taking step to help achieve peace."
The White House said Bush, while reiterating support for the peace plan, also reiterated his support for Israeli security and said he understood the reason for Sharon's postponement of his visit to Washington.
"You know, this is a process that will take time," Fleischer said. "The president is interested in solving this process. And the president understands it is not the type of dispute that will be solved immediately; it's going to require a longer view, a longer-term approach, and the president will give it whatever time it needs."
--
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.