Israel accepts timetable for West Bank Palestinian state

ISRAEL’S cabinet narrowly approved a US-backed Middle East peace plan yesterday, accepting for the first time a timetable for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but objecting to significant portions of the plan.

“It was a historic day,” cabinet minister Tsipi Livni said. “It was not an easy vote for a right-wing coalition. Maybe it’s a sign of hope.”

Last month, the Palestinians accepted the three-phase “road map” to peace, which envisions a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reluctantly embraced the plan on Friday after Washington assured him publicly it would take into account Israel’s objections to parts of it.

Mr Sharon told his ministers during yesterday’s six-hour meeting they needed to approve the plan to pull the nation out of its economic recession. He also reassured them he would not back away from any of the government’s objections.

“The time has come to say yes to the Americans, the time has come to divide this land between us and the Palestinians,” Mr Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot daily.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Mr Sharon could meet as early as today to discuss their next move, a Palestinian official said.

The vote could also clear the way for the two leaders to hold a summit with US President George W Bush to kick off the plan.

The vote met with strong opposition within Mr Sharon’s four-party coalition, consisting of his Likud party, the moderate Shinui party and two right wing blocs, the National Union and the National Religious Party, both of which opposed the plan.

However, both parties said they planned to remain in the coalition.

Mr Sharon faced resistance even within Likud and met with his party’s ministers before the meeting to appeal for their support. Uzi Landau, a Likud minister opposed to the plan, said Washington’s assurances were a “sugar-coated cyanide pill”.

Even some of those who voted in support of the plan said they had serious reservations about the road map but did not want to anger the US.

“I think the document is not a good one, but we have to choose when we battle the US, and now is not the time,” Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

It was not clear whether Mr Sharon’s decision to go along with the road map was just a tactical move. Israeli media quoted his advisers as saying he did not want to be seen as turning down US requests but felt there was little chance Israel would be forced to make concessions because he expected the Palestinians would fail to carry out their obligations under the plan.

While the US government said it would take into account Mr Sharon’s objections to the plan, it also has promised the Palestinians the road map won’t be changed. The Palestinians had demanded Israel accept the road map unconditionally.

“We do not accept any buts,” Mr Abbas said on Saturday. “The road map must be accepted as it is, from A to Z, with all its conditions and all its stages, and any changes to the text will definitely not be accepted.”