- Palestinian officials discounted on Saturday a report
that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to remove some settlements in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip as a "public relations move."
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- Channel Two television said on Friday that Sharon plans
to remove some settlements by the summer of 2004 to make way for a Palestinian
state.
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- Israeli officials refused to comment on the report, but
a source in Sharon's office said in response: "There is such talk,
but for now it only concerns settlements in Gaza. A lot could happen by
next summer."
-
- Palestinian officials were skeptical. "We'll believe
it when we see it," Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan el-Khatib told
Reuters.
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- "Such Israeli declarations are public relations
moves because genuine moves are through the implementation of the road
map," Palestinian cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
-
- According to the report, Sharon also plans to merge a
number of settlements, and will try to find ways to relieve the burden
on Israel Defense Forces soldiers serving in the settlements.
-
- On Thursday, Haaretz quoted sources in the Prime Minister's
Office as saying that Sharon is putting together a package of "positive
unilateral steps" for Israel to take with respect to the Palestinians.
-
- The sources said that the package, which will soon be
presented to the public, will be "parallel, but not contradictory,
to the road map," which the government has accepted as its diplomatic
program.
-
- Sharon hinted at his plan in a speech in Tel Aviv Thursday
at the Prime Minister's Conference on Exports and International Cooperation.
"We are committed to the road map, as approved by the cabinet, and
to our agreements with the Americans," he said. "In addition,
we do not rule out unilateral steps." However, he offered no details
on which steps he had in mind.
-
- The original version of Sharon's speech was apparently
more specific, but it was shelved after Thursday's terror attack in Istanbul,
which drew international attention away from the local diplomatic process.
-
- Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, in an interview
with a Norwegian television station on Thursday, said he was willing to
meet Sharon and that he thought the two could shape a peace deal within
six months, Israel Radio reported. Qureia asserted he was not sure that
reaching an agreement was possible, but added that he was hopeful it could
be done.
-
- For the last several weeks, Sharon and his aides have
been seeking ideas for a new diplomatic initiative, in response to the
growing public criticism of the lack of activity in this sphere, the prime
minister's declining status in the polls and the left's reawakening. Sharon
and his aides concluded that Israel could take numerous actions in the
territories that would make the situation more like it was before the intifada
and thereby lift the public's hopes without incurring a major political
risk.
-
- Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has gone even further
in recent weeks, proposing that Israel determine its border unilaterally,
since an agreement appears unlikely.
-
- Sharon is worried by developments on the domestic front,
as was evident in his attack on the media upon his return from Italy earlier
this week. A senior government source told reporters: "The desire
to show difficulties, crises and problems all the time is unfortunately
stronger than the desire to succeed, and the media must also make an effort...
Everyone bears equal responsibility, and the goal is not to weaken the
nation, but to strengthen it, not to undermine our confidence, but to increase
it. One shouldn't publish things that are inaccurate, and if there are
positive developments, they should be presented as positive."
-
- The prime minister is less concerned, however, about
American criticisms regarding the separation fence, the settlements, the
outposts and the roadblocks. He knows that the Bush administration is gearing
up for elections in 2004, which makes this an inconvenient time to pressure
Israel.
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