Rivlin: PM foresees Palestine on more than 42% of West Bank

Haaretz ^ | 28/07/2003 14:05 | Haaretz Service

[yonif]

w w w . h a a r e t z d a i l y . c o m

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_{Last update - 14:05 28/07/2003}

Rivlin: PM foresees Palestine on more than 42% of West Bank

_{By Haaretz Service}

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, until recently a close political confidante of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said Monday that the future Palestinian state foreseen by Sharon will have borders larger than the 42 percent of the West Bank currently under nominal Palestinian Authority control.

Rivlin, a Likud stalwart and onetime principal defender of Sharon, Monday slammed the prime minister's policies, saying that his acceptance of the road map peace plan is turning Israel "irrelevant" with respect to Washington's policymaking considations.

Sharon has hinted in the past that he could agree to a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank corresponding roughly to the PA territory ceded by Israel in past peace accords.

But Rivlin said Monday that when "the prime minister speaks of the establishment of a Palestinian state, it is not simply a change of title or a declaration of name change from the Palestinian Authority to a palestinian state.

"We are not talking about 42 percent here, and whoever thinks that the Americans will agree to 42 percent, doesn't know what he's talking about," Rivlin told Army Radio. He did not elaborate, other than to say that Sharon still believes that Israel's permanent border with a Palestinian state must include security zones on West Bank ridges overlooking central Israel and in the Jordan Rift valley.

Rivlin spoke as Sharon landed in the United States for talks in the coming days with President George Bush and top administration officials. Sharon has led efforts to broaden concessions to the Palestinians this week, expanding the criteria for an expected prisoner release to include members of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

The Knesset speaker was one of a number of Israeli rightists, among them members of Sharon's Likud, who expressed reservations Monday over the direction of the prime minister's policies.

"I am certainly concerned. With all the admiration and trust I have in the prime minister, and my trust is unqualified, I am full of worries regarding the issues as they are developing," Rivlin told Army Radio.

"The principle fear is that Israel is turning irrelevant in the Americans' considerations. Not only in tactical considerations, intended to shore up Abu Mazen, rather in an entire course that will in the end lead to an inevitable, crashing downfall."

According to Rivlin, Sharon was in danger of causing Israel to lose much of the "American attention to Israel's uncompromising interests."

Rivlin said that government officials have tried to explain away with "grave, lame excuses" the Bush administration's decision not to accept Sharon's 14 reservations to the road map.

Lacking the reservations, Rivlin said, "We are speaking here of a move in which the compromise is All or Nothing," with the language of the road map strongly hinting at a complete Israeli withdrawal to the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.

He compared Israel's situation to a very heavy automobile, which can be controlled only by going very slowly.

"Even an excellent driver like Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon, when he drives 50, 60, even 70 kilometers per hour, heaven forbid, can lose the brakes and then we will let go of control."

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[Alouette]

Sharon is turning into Ehud Barak before our very eyes. G-D help us if he turns into Shimon Peres.

[yonif]

The principle fear is that Israel is turning irrelevant in the Americans' considerations. Not only in tactical considerations, intended to shore up Abu Mazen, rather in an entire course that will in the end lead to an inevitable, crashing downfall."

According to Rivlin, Sharon was in danger of causing Israel to lose much of the "American attention to Israel's uncompromising interests."

Rivlin said that government officials have tried to explain away with "grave, lame excuses" the Bush administration's decision not to accept Sharon's 14 reservations to the road map.

Lacking the reservations, Rivlin said, "We are speaking here of a move in which the compromise is All or Nothing," with the language of the road map strongly hinting at a complete Israeli withdrawal to the borders that existed before the 1967 Six Day War.

[Courier]

The Road Map is the Saudi plan with its first step in Israel's destruction being a return to the Auschwitz borders of 1967.

If Sharon believes that his plan would be accepted by the Arabs or their Saudi man servant, he should be in a straight jacket.

Israel will be forced to concede until it can concede no more and then War will come anyway.

[MatthewViti]

Yonif, have you noticed that the ISrael/Road Map threads get hardly any attention? I guess the Bush bots wish they all went away. Sadly.

[Courier]

I notice that all the time.

When I started lurking here, these Israeli threads would get several hundred posts and the situation was hardly as precarious as today.

But then all the blame could be put on Clinton.

People have no honor if they would watch Israel be destroyed because their man is in the White House.

[yonif]

Yonif, have you noticed that the ISrael/Road Map threads get hardly any attention? I guess the Bush bots wish they all went away. Sadly.

Yeah. People on FR are supposed to be people who support freedom and our great republic. I cannot understand why they would not be making a big deal, organizing protests, etc. against Bush who has brought into the White House (again, this time under his watch) an anti-Semitic, holocaust denier, terrorist murderer (of also Americans), financier of the Munich olympics massacre person who has been Arafat's second in command since 1964.

If it was a democrat, they would be going crazy.

[robowombat]

A true news flash from an Israeli liberal source. The Arabs want 100% of Gaza, Samaria, and Judea followed by 100% of Israel inside the 1948 boundaries. The Arabs will never be content as long as there is a Jewish state. Bush is for what ever reason letting the State Dept PC brigade ateempt to force Israel down the road map to destruction. To these twits Israel is an inconvenient residue of history and its liquidation would be a solution to so many irritations in dealing with the Islamos.

[tictoc]

But the question is, would another Republican president be better? Maybe John McCain would be marginally better (he has always been a 110% foreign policy hawk), but not by much.

In the end, it comes down to what PM Sharon will sign on to, how far he lets himself be bent out of shape by Bush.

I think we can only have the vaguest notion of the tremendous pressure that he is under. Say no to Washington's demands once too often, and risk losing the support of your only powerful friend in the world. Be too compliant to U.S. demands, and you sign away your country's very existence.

It is easy for us to scoff at Sharon for being a pushover, but let's not forget who Sharon is. A war hero every bit as much as General Patton was, a shrewd and successful politician for a very long time.

Can we really say any of us could do a better job than him? Don't forget, Israel is an electoral democracy; Sharon can lead from the front, but if he gets out too far ahead of the people, his plank collapses under him.

[SJackson]

Sharon can lead from the front, but if he gets out too far ahead of the people, his plank collapses under him.

Don't push Sharon too far, Mr. President

It's worth noting a successor may be less, rather than more, flexible

[Binyamin]

But tens of Kobe Bryant posts get hundreds of replies and at least one got 1500+.

[Binyamin]

-A true news flash from an Israeli liberal source.

I thought the same thing.