(Prime Minister's Office) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Herzliya Conference on National Security on Wednesday: The peace plan outlined in President Bush's speech of June 24 is a reasonable, pragmatic, and practicable one. The U.S. Administration has understood and agreed that the only way to achieve a true peace agreement with the Palestinians is progress in phases, with the first phase being a complete cessation of terror. In the American plan, progress is determined on the basis of performance - only once a specific phase has been implemented, will progress into the next phase be possible. The achievement of true and genuine coexistence must be a pre-condition to any discussion on political arrangements. Parallel with, and perhaps even prior to governmental reforms, a security reform must be carried out including the dismantling of all existing security (terrorist) bodies which are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis. The second phase of President Bush's sequence proposes the establishment of a Palestinian state with borders yet to be finalized, and which will overlap with areas A and B, except for essential security zones. Israel will continue to control all entries and exits to the Palestinian state, will command its airspace, and will not allow it to form alliances with Israel's enemies. The Jewish people seek peace. Israel's desire is to live in security and in true and genuine coexistence, based, first and foremost, on the recognition of our natural and historic right to exist as a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. The U.S. has already accepted our unequivocal position that no progress will be possible with Arafat as the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. This man is not - and never will be - a partner to peace.
2002-12-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive