CIA: Palestinian conflict puts US Arab allies at odd with their public

The US CIA Director George Tenet said the escalated violence between Israelis and Palestinians formed a security threat to US interests.

In the Middle East, Tenet said that the lack of security cooperation between the Israelis and Palestinians, combined with the actions of terrorist organizations, made progress towards ending the violence "extremely difficult."

"The violence has hardened the public's positions on both sides and increased the longstanding animosity between Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian leader Arafat. Although many Israelis and Palestinians say they believe that ultimately the conflict can only be resolved through negotiations, the absence of any meaningful security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority -- and the escalating and uncontrolled activities of the Palestine Islamic Jihad and HAMAS -- make any progress extremely difficult," Tenet said.

He said the situation created opportunities for countries like Iran to escalate the violence, and posed a dilemma for Arab regimes that are friendly towards the United States.

"[T]he continued violence threatens to weaken the political center in the Arab world, and increases the challenge for our Arab allies to balance their support for us against the demands of their publics," said Tenet.