HIGHLIGHTS: US State Department Shows Signs of Disappointment with Israel||Tenet Expected in The Region Soon||White House Seeking Solution Not Only from Arafat. ||New US Code for Restraint||STORY: The United States stuck on Wednesday to its drive for a political solution in the Middle East despite the bombings in Israel and an Israeli demand for Palestinian reform as a prerequisite for progress. (Read photo caption)

The State Department said Israel should consider carefully the consequences of any response to Tuesday's bombing, which killed 15 people, and said it remained opposed to the type of incursions Israel made after previous bombings.

In another sign of disagreement with Israel, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States recognized Yasser Arafat as chairman of the Palestinian Authority and looked to him to "play a constructive role."

CODE FOR RESTRAINT

Boucher said later that Washington's consistent advice to Israel was, "You do have a right to safeguard your citizens but you have to think about the consequences of the actions you take."

If the consequences began to threaten U.S. or Israeli interests, the United States would say so, he added.

The reference to consequences became diplomatic code for appeals for restraint earlier this year when Israel made incursions into Palestinian territory or used heavy weaponry against areas densely populated with Palestinian civilians.

WHITE HOUSE SEEKING SOLUTION FROM ARAB NATIONS

But White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush was not seeking a solution only from Arafat, whom the Israeli government is trying to sideline. Progress can be made talking with a number of people, including the Arab nations, he added.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said he expected CIA Director George Tenet to go to the Middle East soon, probably next week, as the United States presses on with consultations on how to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

PHOTO CAPTION

Secretary of State Colin Powell, right, accompanied by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, gestures while talking to reporters after their meeting at the State Department in Washington Wednesday, May 8, 2002. n Powell said that the latest suicide bombing in Israel has endangered the hopes of pushing peace efforts in the Middle East.(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
- May 08 1:12 PM ET