TEL AVIV — Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has drafted a plan
for Israel's withdrawal from virtually all of the West Bank by 2008.
Political sources said Sharon has begun briefing senior U.S. officials
of his intention to withdraw unilaterally from more than 95 percent of the
West Bank. They said Sharon, who quit the ruling Likud Party on Nov. 21,
would seek a U.S. and international security presence in the area as well as
a commitment for the dismantling of Palestinian insurgency groups.
On Wednesday, Haim Ramon, a Cabinet minister who joined Sharon's new
party, said the prime minister plans to withdraw unilaterally to what would
constitute Israel's final borders, Middle East Newsline reported. Ramon said Sharon does not plan to
discuss this before the parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 28.
"His decision [to quit the Likud] stems from his desire to bring the
state of Israel to permanent borders during his term of office," Eli Landau,
a longtime confidante of Sharon, said. "He knows that this step will be a
dramatic one."
The sources said Sharon's plan was based on an assessment that the
Palestinian Authority was not prepared to sign a formal peace agreement with
Israel. They said that under this scenario Sharon would order a unilateral
withdrawal from more than 90 percent of the West Bank, but retain control
over air space.
The pullout would be accompanied by a pledge from Sharon of an
additional pullout and full Palestinian independence should the PA dismantle
insurgency groups and maintain security cooperation with Israel. The sources
said a version of the plan has already been drafted by Israel's National
Security Council.
On Nov. 21, Sharon pledged to lay the "foundation for a peace in which
we set the permanent borders of the state, while insisting on the
dismantling of the terror organizations." He did not
elaborate, but stressed that this plan would be within the parameters of the
so-called roadmap announced by U.S. President George Bush in 2002.
