E-MAIL THIS LINK
To: 

Israel accepts US 'roadkillmap'
JERUSALEM — Israel's foreign minister yesterday embraced the US-backed "roadkillmap" leading to a Palestinian state in an apparent policy reversal and conditionally warmed up to recent Syrian peace overtures — more signs of movement on Mideast peace in the post-Yasser Arafat era.
Looks like the Labor Party got what they wanted.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom called for reconvening the 2003 summit that launched the "roadmap," pledging negotiations with the new Palestinian leadership and with Syria if they fight militant violence against Israel. Shalom's speech at the annual "Herzliya Conference," sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Centre based in the city north of Tel Aviv, marked the first time an Israeli official actively endorsed the "road map" in the year since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon put forward his plan to pull Israeli settlements out of the Gaza Strip and a small part of the West Bank.

Sharon called his plan "unilateral disengagement," refusing to coordinate it with the Palestinian administration led by Arafat, shunned by Israel because of its charge that he was involved in terrorism. After Arafat's death on November 11, Israel has noticeably softened its attitude, hinting at coordination and cooperation after a Jan. 9 election to replace Arafat.

Shalom took that a step further yesterday. He called for reconvening the summit held in June 2003 at the Jordanian resort of Aqaba, where US President George W. Bush launched the "road map," which leads through stages to creation of a Palestinian state. But officials in Sharon's office said he rejected the idea of reconvening the Aqaba summit.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-12-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=51353