Sharon: U.S.-backed road map is the only plan

By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday reaffirmed his commitment to the U.S.-backed „road map” peace plan, saying he wanted to dispel speculation that Israel has a secret agenda for the West Bank. „Yesterday a rumor spread as though we were considering other plans,” Sharon told an economic conference. „We are not considering any, we already have one: The road map. We have no better plan for the future of Israel, and I emphasize this because of the recent rumors.” On Wednesday, two Sharon confidants raised the possibility that, in the event of diplomatic deadlock, Israel could unilaterally withdraw from parts of the West Bank and annex other areas. Eyal Arad, one of Sharon advisors, said that „if we see, over time, that the impasse continues, then, even though Israel’s diplomatic situation is comfortable, we might consider turning the disengagement into an Israeli strategy. Israel would determine its borders independently.” When this statement was reported in the media, it caused an immediate political uproar, and most commentators said they believed Arad was floating a trial balloon on Sharon’s behalf. Sharon’s associates floated similar trial balloons before he unveiled the disengagement plan two years ago, but even while he and his staff were busy drafting the plan, he repeatedly denied that he planned such a move and even termed the idea bad for Israel. Sharon insisted on Wednesday that Arad’s statement does not represent his views. „The prime minister’s position was and remains that following completion of the disengagement, Israel will work to advance the diplomatic process solely via the road map,” he said. „Any additional territorial changes will be discussed and decided upon only in the framework of negotiations on a permanent agreement. Until we reach this stage, if we reach it, there will not be any further unilateral territorial moves.” Sharon’s associates said that there would be no diplomatic or political logic to launching a new initiative involving territorial withdrawals now. The whole purpose of the disengagement, they said, was to perpetuate the status quo in the West Bank until the Palestinians change. Military Intelligence chief: Unilateral approach the most preferable strategy for Israel Less than a month after Israel completed its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank, senior officials in the defense establishment have expressed belief that the unilateral approach – under which Israel will decide on its borders without seeking an accord with the Palestinians – is the most preferable strategy for Israel. The heads of Israel Defense Forces’ main organs for strategic thought, Military Intelligence chief Aharon Ze’evi (Farkash) and Udi Dekel, head of the Planning Directorate’s strategic planning division, both supported this strategy on Wednesday. Their belief that Israel should set its borders unilaterally was presumably strengthened by both the smooth implementation of the disengagement and the rapid disintegration of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza following the withdrawal. Ze’evi, who spoke on Wednesday at a seminar at Tel Aviv University’s Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, said, „in the coming years, Israel will have to take more and more unilateral steps, in order to advance its own interests.” Dekel, who spoke at a seminar at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, said that Israel currently has three diplomatic options: * Suspending the diplomatic process until the PA meets certain benchmarks, which it seems unlikely ever to do * Adhering to the road map, which lays down a three-stage process for establishing a Palestinian state and negotiating a final-status agreement, but insists that the Palestinians fulfill its security provisions before moving forward on other issues * Unilateral steps Currently, Dekel said, even coordinating a convoy from Gaza to the West Bank with the PA is „a long and exhausting process,” so it is hard to imagine an agreement with the Palestinians on more complex issues. Therefore, he argued, the unilateral option is best: It furthers Israel’s goal of a two-state solution „without waiting for them, and creates the conditions for a solution.” For the next year, due to upcoming elections in both Israel and the PA, nothing will happen, either unilaterally or bilaterally, he predicted. But following the PA election, he said, Israel will have a better idea of whether there is anyone to talk to on the other side. Both Deke and Ze’evi, however, did not specify what kind of unilateral steps they had in mind. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz’s office said in response that the two army officers were expressing their own opinions, not those of the entire defense establishment. Sharon denies plan for more unilateral moves Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denied on Wednesday that he plans an additional unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank, a day after one of his key advisors, Eyal Arad, said that such a move was under consideration. BPI-info