June 21, 2003 -- PALO ALTO, Calif. - President Bush could move his Mideast peace push forward by taking the dramatic step of moving the U.S. embassy to west Jerusalem, says former Secretary of State George Shultz.

In an interview, Shultz said that´s a way to tell Palestinians that Israel is there to stay and they must stop hoping violence will destroy Israel - and thus a way to change the "underlying attitude" that inspires anti-Israel violence.

"Why not move our embassy to west Jerusalem and be done with it? People should do things that say Israel is there to stay," said Shultz, who served under President Reagan.

"We should say we think a big element in the process of seeking peace is the acceptance of Israel´s existence and so we´re going to go around to all our friends in Europe and Asia and elsewhere and say let´s accept Israel´s right to exist - and a way of doing that is to move our embassy to west Jerusalem."

He added: "As long as the embassy is in Tel Aviv, it sort of says we´re camping out."

Palestinians want their future state´s capital to be Jerusalem - which is Israel´s capital - but Shultz stressed that moving the embassy won´t affect the U.S. stance that the future of east Jerusalem is subject to negotiations, but not west Jerusalem, which is part of Israel.

Congress, with the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) in the lead, passed a 1995 law calling for the embassy move but left a loophole so presidents could postpone that on "national security" grounds.

Both Bush and former President Bill Clinton have used the loophole for delay, although Bush, as a candidate in 2000, pledged to move the embassy.

Many analysts and diplomats contend the embassy move must wait until there is Mideast peace, but Shultz argued that the embassy move itself could help bring peace by changing attitudes. He also said the fate of Palestinians stuck in refugee camps for half a century with no hope is a barrier to peace and said one answer is for America to welcome some as immigrants. (Copyright 2003 NYP Holdings, Inc. 06/21/03)