U.S. warns against going to Israel

WASHINGTON -- The State Department, citing a "deteriorating security situation," urged Americans who live in Jerusalem to leave the city on Tuesday and encouraged dependents of American diplomats to return to the U.S.

In a new and more pointed travel warning, the department again told Americans to defer travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, This time, it also said U.S. citizens residing in Jerusalem as well as the territories should consider moving to safer locations.

Those who live in the city, the target of an escalating string of Palestinian bombings, were told to be particularly careful and to avoid crowds and demonstrations.

"The potential for further terrorist acts remains high," the department statement said. "The situation in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza remains extremely volatile with continuing terrorist attacks, confrontations and clashes."

Warnings to Americans to stay away from Israel were issued in December and January. The statement Tuesday was coupled with an announcement that dependents of U.S. diplomats and other American workers at the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem were authorized to go home at government expense.

The departure of dependents, which is not mandatory, was based on the general situation and not on any specific threats against Americans, said a U.S. official.

Israel's economy already is reeling under the destruction caused by terror attacks, the expense of a military buildup and a sharp decline in tourists. The new U.S. warning is bound to add to Americans' anxieties about visiting Israel.

The United States, declining to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital, maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. The authorized departure of dependents, as it is called, does not apply to the embassy.

Partly for religious reasons, Jerusalem has attracted Jews from around the world for centuries. Many are attached to its Biblical sites, and it was not clear how effective the State Department suggestion to U.S. citizens to consider relocating would be.

Palestinian Americans, for religious and family reasons, also are attracted to Jerusalem.

Tel Aviv, too, has suffered bloody attacks, but with less frequency.

An estimated 100 to 150 American dependents are eligible to go home. State Department officials said that for security reasons they could not provide a count.

Also Tuesday, the University of California said it was arranging travel back to the United States for 27 students enrolled in programs in Israel and putting its fall 2002 academic program in Israel on hold "in view of the dramatically escalating violence in the Middle East."

The school said it was joining the universities of Colorado and Washington in recalling students from Israel. The university noted that 28 of its students in Israel had previously abandoned their studies there.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell made another call to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his third since Saturday, and talked also to Prime Minister Ali Abul-Ragheb of Jordan.

Jafar Hassan, who heads the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, said Israel's actions on the West Bank were having "an extremely negative impact" on relations between Israel and Jordan.

Also, Hassan said in an interview, Jordan's attempts to steer Israel and the Palestinians into a peace accord have been damaged.

Abul-Ragheb urged the Bush administration to end Israel's siege on Yasser Arafat's headquarters at Ramallah, on the West Bank, and to force Israel to withdraw all its troops from Palestinian-held areas, the Jordanian news agency Petra said.

And Egypt's Middle East News agency reported President Hosni Mubarak had sent a "personal and urgent" message to President Bush to urge him to "take an immediate action that will stop -- as soon as possible -- the violent military campaign undertaken by Israel to occupy Palestinian-controlled areas, something that is expanding day after day."

Mubarak warned of further deterioration if Israel continued its "brutal campaign."

Powell told CNN that even if Arafat went into exile he would retain the role of leader of the Palestinians. "So it seems to me, let's deal with him where he is, and let's continue to apply pressure to him and other leaders of the Palestinian people."

Responding to scattered suggestions from members of Congress that he go to the Middle East, Powell said, "I am prepared to go anywhere, anytime, when it serves a useful purpose."

On NBC's "Today" program, Powell said he would guess that the Israeli military drive into Palestinian-held areas of the West Bank would last a couple of weeks. "I hope this will end quickly, but I can't predict when the Israelis will make the judgment that they can withdraw," he said.