Posted on 12/29/2003 4:41:04 PM PST by Nachum
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has taken another step towards unilateral withdrawal, or the plan he calls "disengagement," by appointing IDF Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland to head the team that will develop the plan. Sharon announced ten days ago that if the Palestinian Authority continues to refrain from fighting terrorism and the Road Map plan thus fails, he would initiate a unilateral withdrawal from some areas in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza). "At the same time," Sharon said, "in the framework of the Disengagement Plan, Israel will strengthen its control over those same areas in the Land of Israel which will constitute an inseparable part of the State of Israel in any future agreement."
Sharon said that listing the names of the Yesha towns to be uprooted or strengthened would be "left for later." It appears that that will be left to the team to be headed by Gen. Eiland, and which will include representatives from the Defense, Foreign, and Justice ministries, the IDF and the GSS (Shabak).
Sharon's party colleague Minister Uzi Landau said, after Sharon's speech, that he could not see the logic in "threatening" the PA that if it continues not to fight terrorism, Israel would withdraw from territories. Spokesmen for Sharon have explained that the PA will receive less territory if Israel unilaterally withdraws than if the two sign a peace agreement. The Landau school retorts that under the unilateral approach, the PA will receive less at first, but will receive more later.
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