WASHINGTON, 15 April 2004 — In a stunning reversal of decades-old US Mideast policy, President George W. Bush yesterday gave his blessing to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to pull out of Gaza and retain a handful of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
“These are historic and courageous actions. If all parties choose to embrace this moment they can open the door to progress and put an end to one of the world’s longest-running conflicts,” said Bush following a White House meeting with Sharon.
Bush then urged the Palestinians to match Israel’s “boldness and courage.”
The Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei quickly said that US support for Sharon’s plan was unacceptable and a violation of the road map to Middle East peace drawn up by the United States with the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
In a move also likely to enrage the Arab world, Bush said Palestinian refugees must settle in an eventual Palestinian state, essentially ruling out their right of return to lands lost to Israel in 1948.
“In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949,” he said, referring to large settlements in the West Bank.
In a complete turnaround from previous US policy declaring Israeli settlements as “an obstacle to peace,” Bush gave his approval for Israel’s right to retain a large chunk of the West Bank.
This concession was sought by Sharon to enable him to keep large groups of Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Gushing in praise for Bush during their televised White House meeting, Sharon said: “In all my life I never met a leader as committed as you in the struggle of freedom and need to confront terrorism where it exists.”
Sharon said Israel had gained implicit US backing for retaining several settlements in the territory, particularly large blocs near Jerusalem. The Palestinians, who want to establish a state in all the West Bank and Gaza, had warned Bush against accepting Sharon’s plan.
“It is now up to responsible Palestinians, caring Europeans, the United Nations, to step in and create such a state,” Bush said.
Speaking in the West Bank, Qorei told reporters: “We cannot accept that.”
“This will be decided in negotiations. It cannot be decided by the president of the United States what is realistic and what is not realistic. It is not realistic that the Israelis occupy Palestinian territories; it is not realistic that the Israelis build the separation wall on the Palestinian territories.”
Palestinian Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said: “Bush does not have the right to negotiate in the name of the Palestinian people, to change UN resolutions, the accords or the road map.”
In what appeared to be approval of a key Israeli demand, Bush said in a statement released by the White House that Israel will “retain its right” after any pullout to strike Palestinians in Gaza.
The president reiterated his support for the road map peace blueprint, which calls for the eventual creation of an independent Palestinian state living at peace with Israel.
“It is very important for a Palestinian state to emerge in which we have confidence, in which any prime minister of Israel has confidence, in which the United States has confidence, that will be a peaceful partner,” he said.
