Israelis watch Sharon's 'u-turn'

Hard-line Israeli MPs and the Palestinians were struggling today to come to terms with Ariel Sharon’s apparent U-turn on the peace process.

The Israeli prime minister threw his weight behind the US-backed road map to Mideast peace yesterday, saying Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza Strip could not go on forever.

He will now hold talks with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas tomorrow, officials said. It will be their second summit in two weeks.

A three way summit with US President George Bush could follow as early as next week, possibly in Jordan.

Amid withering criticism from members of his own Likud Party over his Cabinet’s acceptance of the road map, Sharon appeared to indicate a 180 degree turn after decades of warning that a withdrawal from even small parts of the West Bank could endanger Israel’s existence.

Sceptics said it was yet another master performance from a wily politician who expected that his new-found pliability would never be put to the test.

“To keep 3.5 million people under occupation is bad for us and them,” Sharon said. “This can’t continue endlessly. Do you want to remain forever in Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus?”

The term “occupation” is anathema to Israeli right-wingers, who believe Israel has a legitimate claim to the West Bank and Gaza Strip for religious and security reasons.

Palestinians and their dovish Israeli allies routinely use the word “occupation” when demanding that Israel leave the West Bank and Gaza and dismantle Jewish settlements.

Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and Gaza for a state.

Sharon gave himself a get-out clause in his remarks yesterday.

“What will happen if Palestinian terror continues? Nothing. Nothing will happen. The Palestinians will get nothing,” he said.

But his comments contrasted sharply with his earlier views. The hawkish former general had once argued that giving up even 13% of the West Bank and Gaza would endanger Israel’s security.

On Sunday, his Cabinet conditionally approved the road map, a three phase plan that begins with a halt to violence and envisages a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2005.

Despite the Israeli conditions, including a cessation of violence and renunciation of Palestinian demands for the “right of return” of all refugees and their families to Israel, some Arab leaders were hopeful.

“We are on the verge of peace,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said.