Barak hopes

In a statement quoted by Israel Radio, Barak said he was sure the new administration would continue the efforts of its predecessor to bring peace to the Middle East. Palestinian Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Nabil Amr told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the outgoing Clinton administration still had the opportunity "to complete the Middle East file".

If, however, Clinton proved unable to do so, Amr said, then "we hope the new administration will understand the failure of the old administration's policy. There is a big failure and to act to be more objective in dealing with the issues." "We don't have high hopes but know there is new reality and deal with it," he said.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily reported Thursday that Israeli officials expect the new U.S. administration will display far less personal involvement in the Middle East peace process. Senior Israeli officials were quoted in the authoritative newspaper as saying that "there will be no weekly telephone calls to the Israeli Prime Minister like in Bill Clinton's days, and there will be no political directives from the White House to the State Department and Pentagon to help Israel."

Instead, Israeli officials see power as being concentrated in the hands of mid-level and senior-level bureaucrats, with President Bush functioning mainly as an arbiter and making the final decision between the alternatives and recommendations made by the four shapers of foreign policy: the secretary of state, the secretary of defence, the national security advisor and the head of the CIA.

Ha'aretz said the Israel Prime Minister's Office, the Defence Ministry and the Foreign Ministry were currently assessing relations with the United States and examining issues the new administrtation will encounter. A report forwarded to the Foreign Ministry from Texas noted two factors which could influence new U.S. policy toward Israel: U.S. strategic interests in the Middle East, which are not expected to change, and the president-elect's Christian religious beliefs.

(la/dpa)