WASHINGTON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff met Tuesday with White House officials over Israel's building of a security fence, sources said.
The meeting was not announced by the White House, but it was believed Dov Weisglass, Sharon's chief of staff, was speaking with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, among others.
U.S. National Security Council member Eliot Abrams reportedly met with Sharon secretly in Rome last week and said the administration planned to deduct Israel's spending on the fence from U.S. loan guarantees to the Jewish state.
He also reportedly demanded Israel keep its promise to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories and freeze settlement construction.
"The United States has accepted the legitimacy of the fence," an Israeli source told UPI. "(But) the Americans have raised concerns" the fence route could have a "negative impact' on a final peace agreement.
