(Ha'aretz) Aluf Benn - Prime Minister Sharon wants U.S. approval to expand large West Bank settlement blocs that are intended to be annexed once a permanent peace agreement is reached in exchange for evacuation of most settlements in the Gaza Strip and a few others in the West Bank. Sharon will justify the request due to the need to move some of the settlers from the evacuated areas to Ma'ale Adumim, Ariel, and Gush Etzion, which the previous U.S. administration had agreed would be included within Israel as part of the Clinton framework for a permanent agreement. At a meeting this week with the Likud Knesset faction, Sharon referred to the evacuation of "a very small number" of West Bank settlements. Government sources said Sharon rejects a unilateral withdrawal from the Jordan Valley. White House National Security Council emissaries Steve Hadley and Elliot Abrams are due in Israel next week to hear the principles of the disengagement plan.
2004-02-06 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive