Israel's army chief has privately voiced reservations about Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's proposal to take unilateral steps if peacemaking with the Palestinians fails.
Liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretztoday quotes Lieutenant-General Moshe Yaalon's adding his voice to criticism from four former Israeli security chiefs over the tough policies towards the Palestinians.
An Israeli army spokesman said the military does not comment on accounts of purported private remarks.
The criticism follows Mr Sharon's suggestion that he would make unilateral moves, including the dismantling of isolated Jewish settlements, should efforts to promote the "road map" to peace collapse.
Lt Gen Yaalon said today that he believes unilateral removal of settlements would confer "support to terror" in the face of a three-year-old Palestinian uprising and should be done only as part of a comprehensive peace arrangement.
The army should first pull out of "quiet cities" in the West Bank as a way of rewarding the Palestinians and pave the way for a future peace deal, Lt Gen Yaalon is quoted as saying.
He recently attacked the tough travel restrictions imposed on Palestinians saying they only served to boost support for militants.
Lt Gen Yaalon's reported remarks added to growing calls at home and abroad for Mr Sharon to end violence and bolster the status of Palestinian moderates against militants by reining in settlers and lifting blockades imposed on Palestinian cities.
Israel has also come under international criticism for its construction of the West Bank "security fence" it says is aimed at keeping suicide bombers out of its cities. Palestinians call the barrier a land grab.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie met US envoy Mr William Burns for the first time since taking office earlier this month. Mr Burns is due to hold talks with Israeli leaders later today.
Mr Burns pledged the United States would continue its efforts to get peacemaking back on track, according to a press statement issued after he met Mr Qurie in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Mr Sharon has vowed to pursue talks with the Palestinian Prime Minister but Mr Qurie yesterday said there could no talks while the work n the "security fence" continued.
However, his top aide Mr Hassan Abu Libdeh and cabinet minister Mr Saeb Erekat will today meet the director of Mr Sharon's office, Mr Dov Weisglass.