RAMALLAH, West Bank, 7 January 2004 — Yasser Arafat yesterday accused archenemy Ariel Sharon of not wanting peace after the Israeli premier again threatened unilateral measures to separate the Jewish state from the Palestinians.
“Sharon does not want peace; he wants to continue to build the wall and to conduct military operations,” veteran Palestinian leader Arafat told reporters at his office here, referring to the barrier being constructed to separate Israel from the West Bank.
He also played down the dismantlement of certain illegal Jewish settlements announced by Sharon, saying “removing one mobile home here and another one there is nothing more than a trick.”
In a speech Monday night to his Likud party, Sharon reaffirmed his commitment to the internationally drafted peace road map and the creation of a Palestinian state, which would involve the uprooting of Israeli settlements.
But he reiterated that he would not hesitate to follow his “disengagement” plan should the Palestinians fail to crack down on factions carrying out anti-Israeli attacks. Sharon’s “unilateral measures” are likely to see the Israelis withdraw from a number of isolated settlements while strengthening control over some larger settlement blocs.
He was roundly booed at several stages during his speech, with one delegate unfurling a banner which read: “Sharon’s plan is a prize for terror.”
The road map has made little progress since its June unveiling, with top-level talks between the Palestinians and Israelis frozen since August. The plan, which both sides endorsed, provided for the establishment of a Palestinian state with provisional borders by last week, as a step toward the creation of a definitive state by 2005.
But little progress has been made on even the first of its three phases, with the Palestinians failing to crack down on hard-line militants and Israel doing very little to dismantle settlement outposts.
Commentators noted that while Sharon’s speech drew irate reactions from right-wingers, his commitment to a Palestinian state would boost his standing with Washington and consolidate his domestic popularity by occupying the precious centre ground.
“If it was your impression from watching the TV coverage that the Likud central committee clobbered Sharon last night, your impression was mistaken,” the top-selling Yediot Ahronot said in an editorial.
“The protests help him in Washington... The protests ameliorate Sharon’s standing in Israeli public opinion as well. They cast him as a determined, fearless leader who strides unflinchingly on his way to making unpopular decisions.”
Other commentators stressed that Sharon’s position was no more than a speech for the moment and doubted he would ever implement any withdrawals. “Ariel Sharon is good with speeches. He truly excels in speeches. Action? Not yet,” said the Ma’ariv daily.
The same newspaper reported yesterday that Israeli authorities planned to dismantle 28 West Bank settlement outposts this month, in a bid to comply with the road map. Yet all the inhabited outposts dismantled so far have since been rebuilt, as well as most of the uninhabited ones.
The Palestinian leadership has been struggling to secure a suspension of anti-Israeli attacks by militant factions, such as Hamas, in a bid to restart talks with Israel.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was initially expected to hold truce talks with Arafat later yesterday but his trip was delayed for unknown reasons. Palestinian hardliners have ruled out any truce even against civilians while Israeli “aggressions” continue in the West Bank and Gaza City.
The Israeli Army withdrew from the heart of the northern West Bank city of Nablus yesterday after an 11-day sweep for suspected militants, an AFP correspondent reported. Some 50 armored vehicles and more than 200 troops which had been operating mainly in the Old City were seen pulling out. Six Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops since the launch of the operation on Dec. 26, a day after a suicide attack near Tel Aviv carried out by a bomber from a nearby village.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli officials yesterday said, Israel is using diplomatic back channels to test whether Syria really wants to resume peace talks and stands ready to reopen negotiations if Damascus takes key steps. Syria urged the United States last month to help revive talks that collapsed in 2000, but hopes took a hit after an Israeli minister revealed a plan to expand Jewish settlements on the occupied Golan Heights — drawing outrage from Syria.
If the two did decide to test the waters, Turkey could as a go-between, diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by Turkey’s Anatolia news agency. Turkey is Israel’s longest-standing ally in the Middle East and welcomed Syrian President Bashar Assad yesterday on the first visit there by a Syrian head of state.
