An Israeli government envoy begins a visit to the United States Sunday in hopes of persuading the US government to drop its support for a Palestinian state and the "road map" to Middle East peace.

Tourism Minister Benny Elon will fly to New York first and travel to Washington on Monday "to discuss the impending road map and the danger a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River poses to the State of Israel," according to an Israel government statement released late Saturday.

While no talks with members of the executive branch are scheduled, Elon is expected to meet with leaders of the US Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as prominent evangelical Christian leaders close to the administration of President George W. Bush.

According to Israeli spokesman Ronn Torossian, these religious

leaders include Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs, former presidential candidate Gary Bauer and Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network, who once said that "God gave the land to the descendants of Israel. It was not given to Palestine."

The visit follows last week's unveiling of the "road map," a plan put together by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations that calls for incremental steps toward resolving the Middle East conflict and creating a Palestinian state in 2005.

The plan calls for an immediate halt to Palestinian violence, the Israeli military's gradual withdrawal from Palestinian territories and an end to Jewish settlement activities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

But in a statement made public in the United States on Saturday, Elon made clear he saw the road map as a non-starter and wanted to

convey to Americans that "our stay in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) is not temporary."

"A Palestinian state in the heartland of the land of Israel will be a disaster to both the Jewish state as well as the Palestinians," continued Elon, a political ally of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon who heads the right-wing Moledet Party faction in the Israeli Knesset.

"I wish to explain by means of facts and maps that the 'peace' that the road map envisages cannot be achieved," he said.

Although he was officially presented with the "road map" last Wednesday, Sharon has so far refrained from extensive public comments on it.

Asked if Elon's trip had the blessing of the Israeli leader, Torossian replied: "He is a cabinet member of the Israeli government, and this is an official trip of the Israeli government."