- IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon's controversial remarks
earlier this week were "true and correct" and described "the
situation as it is," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday.
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- Ya'alon, both at a conference organized by the chief
rabbis on Sunday and in an interview with Ha'aretz Magazine, described
the Palestinian threat as "cancerous," said the current Palestinian
leadership does not recognize Israel's right to exist, and that a unilateral
withdrawal from the territories would constitute giving in to terrorism.
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- Sharon said the criticism of Ya'alon stems from political
considerations, and that had the chief of staff said the opposite, he would
undoubtedly have been praised by the left.
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- Regarding an IDF plan for an interim agreement with the
Palestinians that includes evacuating isolated settlements, first reported
in yesterday's Ha'aretz, Sharon's office said that "if it indeed exists,
it was never brought to the attention of the prime minister or his aides."
The Ha'aretz report said it had been submitted to two former top Sharon
aides, Uri Shani and Major General Moshe Kaplinsky. But a government source
said both denied knowing anything about such a plan.
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- Sharon said that diplomatic progress would be possible
once the violence stops, but that has not happened. The mortar fire in
Gaza is growing worse, he said; the Palestinians are doing nothing to prevent
terror; and there have as yet been no serious changes in the Palestinian
security establishment.
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- The premier said he was worried by efforts to "revive"
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. He said that Egypt is trying
to persuade the Americans that progress is impossible without Arafat, and
it is being aided and abetted in this effort by many Israelis - private
individuals, former officials and even current officials who "are
running to the Egyptians." One prominent recent Israeli visitor to
Cairo was Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet security service. Ayalon
declined to comment.
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- Sharon said that any reform of the PA in which Arafat
is involved will be a fiction, as the chairman will not permit reforms
that threaten his supremacy. It is therefore imperative, he said, to stick
to the plan of sidelining Arafat outlined by U.S. President George Bush.
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- Sharon did not comment on Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer's
"Gaza First" plan for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from areas
of the territories where quiet prevails, beyond noting that he had proposed
a similar deal to Arafat last year. Sharon's office said that though Ben-Eliezer
is currently busy fighting for his political life, they believe he can
defeat Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna in the Labor Party leadership race.
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- Sharon said he is worried by recent incidences of Arab
Israeli involvement in terror and by the things said at the Islamic Movement's
recent conference on the Temple Mount, since Jews and Arabs ultimately
have to live together. He said he believes that most Israeli Arabs want
to be part of Israeli society, and that in private conversations with Israeli
Arab leaders, he has therefore urged them to stop talking about separation.
He rejected the idea that successive Israeli governments are solely responsible
for Arab disaffection, saying that while it is true that more should be
done, there have nevertheless been impressive accomplishments.
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- Regarding the possibility of an American attack on Iraq,
the prime minister said he believes this should be discussed only in closed
forums, rather than in the media. The U.S., he added, has also requested
that Israel keep a low profile on this issue.
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- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=203
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