Sharon seeks US approval for Gaza plan
Sharon disclosed the final element of the plan just hours before his departure, naming for the first time the West Bank areas he plans to keep under Israeli control.
About 92,500 of the approximately 220,000 West Bank Jewish settlers live in the blocs Sharon listed. Peace Now, an Israeli settlement monitoring group, estimated that Israel would have to keep about 50 percent of the West Bank to hold on to the blocs.
President Bush said on Monday that a Gaza pull-out would be a "positive development". However, it appears unlikely the president will declare that Israel can retain parts of the West Bank.
Such a declaration would violate the US-backed "road map" peace plan, which says the borders of a Palestinian state must be negotiated. Bush reiterated on Monday that "if Israel makes the decision to withdraw, it doesn't replace the road map".
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said yesterday that Sharon's proposals "destroy any hope for peace," and that the Palestinians would not accept an Israeli annexation of West Bank settlement blocs. Sharon has stopped short of saying the settlement blocs would be annexed, but said he considered them part of Israel.
Sharon is hoping Bush can help him persuade hard-liners in his Likud Party to back a withdrawal. Some 200,000 Likud members are to vote on the "disengagement" plan on May 2, and approval is not assured. The Likud Party delayed the vote from April 29 because of concerns that a basketball championship game in Tel Aviv would lower turnout for the referendum.
If Sharon fails, he could come under pressure to resign.
Sharon has said he would honour the outcome of the vote, but has not spoken about resigning if he loses. However, his vice premier, Ehud Olmert, on Tuesday referred to such a possibility. If the Likud members vote no, "they are destroying the political basis of the government headed by Sharon," Olmert told Israel Army Radio. Olmert said some opponents of the disengagement are trying to topple Sharon.
According to senior Israeli government officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Sharon and Bush will exchange letters at their meeting today, outlining commitments to the withdrawal plan and to the road map.
Sharon's letter will say that Israel will pull out of all 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four isolated West Bank enclaves, the officials said. In exchange, Bush will say Israel has a right to "pursue terrorists" including in areas from which it has pulled out, the officials said.
Israeli officials have said the United States has turned down Israel's request for recognition of West Bank settlement blocs. Olmert said that he doesn't expect formal US backing of Israel's plan to retain the settlement blocs Sharon listed on Monday night, but that he is confident Washington will give a general approval.
On another Israeli demand backing for Israel's position that Palestinian refugees not be allowed to return to their former homes in Israel Sharon could at best expect a murky statement, Israeli officials said.
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