The decision by US President Bush to back Israel's permanent hold of part of the West Bank should be bluntly criticised by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, the former British foreign secretary, Mr Robin Cook, has declared.
Speaking in Dublin before attending the Labour Party conference, Mr Cook, who quit the British cabinet over the invasion of Iraq, said Mr Ahern should raise the issue when he meets Mr Bush in June.
"Mr Bush should hear, I hope, from the Irish Government when he is here about the concerns in Europe about what he has done to the Middle East peace process.
"The European Union is one of the quartet, the four partners in the road map process. A lot of Europe will want President Bush to hear very firmly and very clearly that they want a return to the road map and that we would like to be consulted before he departs from it again."
President Bush's decision to back Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was one of the most significant acts by the US in 40 years, he said. "The change has been dramatic. You can't underrate it. What George Bush did this week was that he endorsed the negotiating position of the present Israeli government. He is no longer holding the ring, if you like. He is inside the ring, punching alongside Prime Minister Sharon. That is a dramatic change in the position that the West has taken over all of those decades."
Urging Mr Tony Blair to put distance between himself and Washington, Mr Cook said Mr Blair's ambition to be a bridge between the EU and the US had failed. "A bridge can only work if both sides actually want to have the bridge. I am not sure that the present US administration is interested in having bridges with the rest of the world, other than perhaps a drawbridge.
"Perhaps Tony (Blair) should face up to the fact that it is impossible to bridge the very large gap between President Bush and Europe at the present time. If that is the case, Britain's place, strategically, economically, culturally, is in Europe. We were told that one of the reasons for supporting Bush's invasion of Iraq was to give us influence in the White House. It is very hard to see it at the present time."
