WP: Rice Goes From the Inside to The Front [View All]

State Nominee May Face Tough Transition

Monday, January 17, 2005; Page A01

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice flew into Jerusalem on June 28, 2003, and immediately rushed to a meeting on the West Bank with Palestinian officials. During the session at a Jericho hotel, a rapt Rice watched a flashy PowerPoint presentation on a security fence being built by the Israelis that had begun to encroach on Palestinian lands.

The report showed a concrete wall dividing the homes of Palestinian farmers from their fields and depicted a proposed route that would leave most of the Palestinians inside the fenced areas but 91 percent of the West Bank settlements outside.

The security barrier had not been a major factor in U.S.-Israeli relations. But the next day, Rice -- who grew up in the segregated South -- met with the cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and shocked the officials by confronting them over the barrier's proposed route. She asked Sharon to redraw it in a way that showed greater sensitivity to Palestinians.

The incident offers insights into Rice's style as she prepares for confirmation hearings tomorrow to replace Colin L. Powell as secretary of state. If confirmed, Rice would move from inside the White House to chief spokesman for U.S. foreign policy.

Although she made frequent television appearances to promote the administration's agenda, she has largely operated behind the scenes in the first term and made few solo trips overseas, receiving mixed reviews for her management of the clash of personalities and ideologies of Bush's top foreign policy advisers.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14268-2005Jan16?language=printer