NEW YORK: The United States and its partners in the Middle East peace process were unable to bridge sharp differences over the next steps in resolving the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians.

As another Palestinian attack — the first in three weeks — left seven Israelis dead near the West Bank town of Emmanuel, US Secretary of State Colin Powell emphasized that ending the violence was the key precondition for movement on other goals, including creating a Palestinian state.

But representatives of the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — the other members of the “quartet” on Middle East peace — stressed that parallel efforts on humanitarian aid and political reform, especially reciprocal steps by Israel, also were required.

“Everything really begins with creating a better sense of security, a better handle on the security situation in the region,” Powell told reporters after a two-hour meeting here. “That’s the one we’ve got to move aggressively on in the coming days and weeks,” he said, adding, “I wish they could all be more parallel.”

Powell’s counterparts disputed his assessment. “We must keep security, reform and the social progress approximately side by side,” said Per Stig Moeller, the foreign minister of Denmark, which currently holds the EU presidency. “Otherwise it will turn around once more, once more, once more.”

“Even if security gains some traction, unless we show some progress on the other two tracks, that will not work,” UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said.

The meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria marked the first high-level diplomacy by the administration since President Bush’s June 24 speech on the Middle East in which he signalled a new direction in US policy that included a call for the removal of Yasser Arafat.

Powell said that the US had been “putting together concepts,” with CIA director George Tenet “deeply involved,” in an effort to get the Israelis and Palestinians once again working together on improving security.

Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, said that the United States was working on a plan to reorganize the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, a process he said would include participation by Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Powell also clashed publicly with his counterparts over the future of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, with the others emphasizing that despite Bush’s decision to cut off contacts, they still regarded him as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.

But Arafat’s role only took up a few minutes of the discussions, officials said, indicating that the United States and its allies had decided to push aside, for now, an issue on which they have fundamental differences.

Powell met with the foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan. They later joined Annan, Moeller, Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov for dinner at Annan’s home. The Arab foreign ministers, and their Saudi counterpart, will travel to Washington to meet with Powell and Bush on Thursday.

Annan, who spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday, quoted Sharon as saying he “wanted to see a worldwide humanitarian operation to alleviate the plight of the Palestinian people.” Annan said that “we will have to find out more about that,” but he urged Sharon as a first step to allow unrestricted access to international and humanitarian personnel.

A senior State Department official acknowledged that the issue of whether to push Israel on taking reciprocal steps toward peace was dividing the US from its partners. “This is an issue we are working through,” he said.

While the other members of the group focused on the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians, Powell’s emphasis on security largely reflected the Israeli position. Sharon, in a letter to Powell over the weekend, declared that security reform was “first among equals,” according to a person who had seen the letter.

The senior State Department official said the United States was working with the “Egyptians and others” on ways to build a professional Palestinian security force. He said US officials were speaking with the new Palestinian minister of interior, but emphasized they were not talking directly to Arafat. He declined to say whether the Israelis would accept a security force still under Arafat’s control.

In one small sign of progress, Powell and his counterparts endorsed a new task force that will oversee Palestinian commitments to meet reform targets. The task force set up seven working groups that will focus on such areas as elections, financial accountability and creating a market economy.

The US and its allies also are also exploring ways to release Palestinian tax revenues that have been frozen by the Israelis, such as having payments made directly to vendors without going through the Palestinian Authority.—Dawn/The LAT/WP News Service.