JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel said it did not expect to come under increased US pressure over the Middle East peace process, as President George W. Bush`s camp claimed to won a second term at the White House.
"So far we have cooperated with all American administrations and we will continue to do so. I don`t think pressure will be necessary, Israel wants to advance on the road to peace," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told army radio on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, an unstinting US ally, has beefed up security after a suicide attack Monday punctured hopes that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat`s absence in a French hospital could slow the cycle of violence.
On Wednesday, Sharon was due to hold talks with Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and military officials on his controversial plan to evacuate Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip within the next year.
But a foreign ministry report has suggested that the White House, regardless of its incumbent, could step up pressure on Sharon to dismantle rogue outposts in the West Bank as he has repeatedly promised, army radio reported.
"The main thought is that the United States will get more involved in the region, which is not necessarily negative for Israel," a senior official at the foreign ministry told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The question is whether the Americans will be happy with the Gaza Strip withdrawal plan that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants to implement, or whether they will want to go further," the official said.
Later Wednesday, Israeli MPs were expected to approve a compensation bill for the 8,000 Jewish settlers who Sharon is set to force out of Gaza, thanks to support from the opposition Labour party.
But it was unclear whether a vote would go ahead as planned on the first reading of the government`s budget after Labour said it would oppose the bill unless the ballot was delayed.
While Israel was cautious over Tuesday`s US election -- snared in an embarrassing stalemate despite cries of victory from the Bush camp -- Arafat`s spokesman in Paris said Palestinians were "worried" about a Republican win.
He "hopes the second mandate will be different" if Bush is confirmed the winner over Democratic rival John Kerry, said the Palestinian envoy to France, Leila Shahid.
Arafat, who Bush and Sharon have refused to negotiate with, would ask the victorious US president to ensure that Israel`s Gaza withdrawal takes place in coordination with Palestinian officials, Shahid added.
But with a definitive diagnosis on the veteran leader`s health still pending, Shalom said Israel must prepare for Arafat`s death.
"If he dies, we must be as organised as possible. There is no doubt that his condition is very serious. We have said since the beginning that he was suffering from a very serious infection or from cancer," he told public radio.
French doctors have confirmed he does not have leukaemia and Palestinian officials have been at pains to stress his general state has improved.
On Wednesday, a 26-year-old Palestinian was shot dead and three others were wounded by Israeli soldiers during an incursion into Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza, Palestinian security services said.
Separately, two Israelis were wounded when a sniper opened fire towards the Jewish settlement of Rafiah Yam, also in southern Gaza, Israeli military and settler sources said.
A leading US rights organisation urged armed Palestinian groups to stop recruiting children to carry out anti-Israeli attacks, following Monday`s suicide attack in Tel Aviv, carried out by a 16-year-old boy.
"Palestinian armed groups should immediately end all use of children in military attacks," Human Rights Watch said, adding that "at least 10 children" had carried out suicide missions since the start of the four-year-old uprising.

11/03/2004 - 15:22 GMT - AFP