Report: Sharon plans to evacuate several settlements by mid-2004

Report: PM plans to evacuate several settlements by mid-2004

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans to evacuate a
number of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip by the summer of 2004, to make way for a
Palestinian state, Channel 2 reported on Friday
night. It was also reported that Sharon 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.




Israeli and Palestinian
officials were not
immediately available for
comment, but a source in
Sharon's office said: "There
is such talk, but for now it
only concerns settlements in
Gaza. A lot could happen by
next summer."


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.

Meanwhile, 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.