AUGUSTA (AP) – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, just back from a lawmakers’ exchange visit to Israel and other parts of the Mideast, said Saturday a peace plan backed by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia is desirable but will not succeed merely because it makes sense.

“The road map looks so logical on its face and yet its implementation is daunting,” Collins said in a telephone interview.

The second-term Republican attributed the primary problem to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s “stranglehold” on power.

After meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, Collins said, “the major obstacle that I see is that (Qureia) has not been given real authority” by Arafat, who was blamed in part for the decision by the Palestinians’ first premier, Mahmoud Abbas, to resign in September.

Describing him as “a very capable leader,” Collins said Qureai needs the authority over Palestinian security forces to crack down on terrorist attacks.

Continued concern over such attacks offers justification for Israeli retaliation, Collins said. She suggested it also bolsters arguments in support of the Israeli construction of security fencing that has angered Palestinians.

The “road map” peace plan calls for a Palestinian state by 2005.

“I believe that the road map plan lays out a means to have peace in the region with a secure Israel and a Palestinian state,” Collins said.

Collins said she also returned from last week’s tour, which included stops in Morocco and Jordan, with confidence that Jordan’s King Abdullah II hoped to advance a peace process.

The road map proposal was announced in May but not much progress has been made. In a major speech Thursday, Sharon warned that he will take unilateral action if peace efforts remain stalled. Steps could include drawing a temporary border in the West Bank and moving some settlements.

Other members of the touring congressional group last week were Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., a member of the Republican leadership, Rep. Jane Harman of California, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and Rep. Jeff Flake, another Arizona Republican.

Collins, who serves as chairwoman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, suggested U.S. homeland security initiatives – “still in the infancy stage” – could draw on lessons from Israel.

“I was so impressed by how advanced the Israeli preparations were,” Collins said, citing response plans for bioterrorism attacks and mass casualties.

Especially impressive, she said, was Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem.

Also serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Collins said she sought to advocate for Bath Iron Works in Israel, which is contemplating contracting for the construction of two or three small destroyers.