OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 26 May 2003 — In a historic vote cast under intense US pressure, Israel’s hard-line government yesterday reluctantly approved a Middle East peace plan that formally recognizes the Palestinians’ right to a state, but left itself an escape hatch from unwelcome provisions.
“The decision was difficult,” Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said of the 12-7 Cabinet vote, with four abstentions. Those opposed, including ministers from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s own Likud party, said they feared the plan endangered Israel’s existence.
The vote came after six hours of debate and injected new momentum into the often-delayed road map to Middle East peace, a three-stage plan that envisions a full Palestinian state by 2005.
However, Israel’s acceptance was diluted by qualifiers; the vote was held on “steps defined by the road map,” and not the entire document. In a separate vote of 16-1, the Cabinet rejected any influx of Palestinian refugees into what is now the Jewish state, a proviso likely to be a bump on any road to peace. The road map does not refer to a specific Palestinian “right of return” but calls instead for a “fair and realistic solution to the refugee issue” in the proposal’s final phase.
“This is a positive thing,” Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr told Dubai-based Al Arabiya television. “But we believe that for there to be an effective implementation of the road map, Israel must help create a conducive environment by freeing detainees, halting settlements and military raids and closures.”
Sharon is to meet with his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, tomorrow — their second summit in 10 days — to work out the next steps. The Cabinet vote also cleared the way for a possible three-way meeting next week with Sharon, Abbas and US President George W. Bush. The Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh was seen as the likely venue.
The White House called the Cabinet vote “an important step forward”.
Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Al-Rantissi responded to the Cabinet move by calling the road map “a conspiracy to liquidate the Palestinian cause and resistance”.
