TEL AVIV, Oct 6: Israel's plan to withdraw from some occupied territory aims to rule out a Palestinian state indefinitely, with full US approval, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff said on Wednesday.
Dov Weisglass's remarks on the move to give up the Gaza Strip next year while keeping large chunks of the West Bank surprised US diplomats, who said Washington remained dedicated to a "road map" peace plan for a Palestinian state.
Sharon, wary of alienating Israel's key ally, said later he still backed the "road map" effectively dismissed by Weisglass. Palestinians, whose calls for road map talks have been spurned by Israel's ruling right, condemned Weisglass's message.
"I believe he has revealed the true intentions of Sharon. We told the quartet (of US-led peace mediators) eight months ago that the Gaza plan was designed to undermine their road map," said Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat.
Weisglass's message, coinciding with a big Israeli offensive in Gaza, could help Sharon win over far-right foes opposed to abandoning the territory and challenging his grip on power.
"The significance of our (unilateral) disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process. It supplies the formaldehyde necessary so there is no political process with Palestinians," Weisglass said in an interview published in the Haaretz daily.
"When you freeze the process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state ... Effectively, this whole package called a Palestinian state, with all it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda," Weisglass said.
Weisglass said Palestinian leaders' failure to stop militant attacks including suicide bombings was to blame for the diplomatic vacuum. Palestinians blame Israeli offensives as well as continued settlement activity in the West Bank.
Weisglass ruled out talks on critical issues such as Palestinian refugees, borders and the status of Al Quds in the foreseeable future. "And all this with authority and permission, all with a presidential blessing."
BUSH PUTS ONUS ON PALESTINIANS: US President George Bush in April endorsed Sharon's plan to pull 8,000 settlers from tiny Gaza in 2005 while keeping most of 230,000 settlers in place in the West Bank, displacing the "road map". Bush declared that Palestinians cannot expect to obtain statehood unless they stamp out militant attacks on Israel.
Weisglass said: "What I effectively agreed to with the Americans was that part of the settlements would not be dealt with at all, and the rest will not be dealt with until the Palestinians turn into Finns."
In an apparent effort to contain damage from Weisglass's blunt remarks, Sharon reaffirmed a formal commitment to the road map, three weeks after saying Israel was "not following" it.
"(It is) the only plan that can permit progress toward a durable political settlement with the Palestinians," he said. "But in the absence of a Palestinian partner, we have initiated disengagement ... to improve Israel's ability to defend its citizens," the former general said in a statement. -Reuters
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