Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will receive, in exchange for a planned Gaza pullout, a written U.S. assurance Israel will not have to quit all of the West Bank in any future peace deal, an Israeli newspaper said on Sunday. The Haaretz daily said the pledge would be contained in a letter that President Bush will hand Sharon at their White House meeting on Wednesday. Political analysts say the more benefits the United States offers Sharon in the meetings in Washington, the easier it will be for him to obtain backing at home for his declared plan to withdraw from Gaza and four of some 120 West Bank settlements.
| Let's not give away the store here; the Gaza withdrawal is a no-brainer good idea even if we don't hand out candy to the Israelis. |
The newspaper said Bush's letter will declare that Israel will not be asked in the future to withdraw to the pre-1967 boundary known as the "green line." Determination of borders in any final-status accord with the Palestinians will take into consideration "demographic realities" on the ground, Haaretz quoted from the letter in an indirect reference to Jewish settlements on occupied land.
| That's going to upset some Paleos! |
| On the other hand, there's not much that doesn't upset them, is there? They're a sensitive lot... |
There was no immediate official Israeli comment on the report, which was carried by the newspaper's Web Site before the morning newspaper hit the stands. The report was likely to stoke Palestinian fears the Gaza pullout plan is an Israeli ruse to annex West Bank settlement blocs. Haaretz said Israeli officials believe the letter constituted U.S. acquiescence to such a future move. Bush's letter will effectively challenge any right of return by Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel, saying they can be absorbed in a future Palestinian state.
| However small it ends up being. |
In his own letter to Bush, Sharon will reiterate Israel's commitment to the roadkill road map peace plan and the president's vision of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians have said Sharon's unilateral steps contradict the road map's vision of mutual moves toward peace and a negotiated settlement leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. Sharon has said that more than three years of violence has shown that Israel has no real Palestinian peace partner.
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