US president-elect George W. Bush will not "spoil" Israel the way his predecessor, Bill Clinton has, former Israeli ambassador in Washington Itamar Rabinovich said Saturday.
"We were spoiled by President Clinton, who got personally involved in the Middle-East peace process, but we should expect things to change with Bush's accession to power", Rabinovich told Israeli public radio.
"George W. Bush does not have the same instinctive sympathy" for Israel, said Rabinovich, who was appointed in Washington by the Labor government of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in November 1995.
Bush's election "will mark the end of the Israeli Prime Minister's frequent visits to Washington and of the weekly phone conversations between the two heads of state", he said.
The president-elect is "less involved in the Middle East, but this could change in the future, considering the US's role as a superpower", the former diplomat said.
Palestinian officials said Thursday they hoped Bush would re-balance US Middle East policy in a way more favorable to them.
The Israeli government would have preferred the election of Democrat candidate Al Gore, Bill Clinton's vice president -- JERUSALEM (AFP)
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