Sharon seeks US backing for settlement plan

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was heading to Washington today to seek US backing for a plan to give up the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in exchange for keeping and expanding five large West Bank settlement blocs.

Mr Sharon disclosed the final element of the plan just hours before his departure. In a visit to the West Bank’s largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim, he listed for the first time the West Bank areas he plans to keep.

US President George W Bush apparently has no problem with Israeli withdrawals - yesterday he said a Gaza pull-out would be a “positive development” – but it appears unlikely he is ready to declare that Israel can now keep parts of the West Bank.

Such a declaration would violate the US-backed “road map” peace plan, which says the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state must be negotiated by both sides.

US officials have emphasised that a Gaza withdrawal must be part of the road map.

Still, Mr Sharon is hoping Mr 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 April 29, and approval is not assured. If Mr Sharon fails, he could come under pressure to resign.

According to senior Israeli government officials, Mr Sharon and Mr Bush will exchange letters at their meeting tomorrow, outlining commitments to the withdrawal plan and to the road map.

Mr 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, Mr Bush will say Israel has a right to “pursue terrorists”, including in areas from which it has pulled out, the officials said.

But the US has turned down Israel’s request for recognition of West Bank settlement blocs, Israeli officials said.

On another Israeli demand – backing for Tel Aviv’s position that Palestinian refugees not be allowed the right to return to their former homes in Israel – Mr Sharon could at best expect a murky statement, Israeli officials said.

“There appears to be nothing new,” Yossi Alpher, an expert on Israel-US relations, said of the emerging guarantees.

“But it appears to be ambiguous enough to allow Sharon … (by) putting a lot of spin on it, to persuade his fellow Likudniks.”

The US is trying to ensure that Mr Sharon’s withdrawal does not undermine the road map, which has been stuck since its launch last year.

But Mr Sharon was clearly at odds with the road map when he said yesterday that he plans to “strengthen and develop” the five settlement blocs Israel intends to keep – Maaleh Adumim, Givat Zeev and the Etzion bloc near Jerusalem, as well as Ariel and Kiryat Arba in the heart of the West Bank.

Around 92,500 of the approximately 220,000 West Bank Jewish settlers live in the blocs Mr Sharon listed.

The road map calls for a freeze in construction in the Israeli settlements ahead of talks on a final peace deal.

The Palestinian Authority is wary of Mr Sharon’s plan. Palestinian officials fear he is sacrificing the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank so he can keep other areas.

Palestinians want to establish a state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and demand Israel remove all settlements from the lands, captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

“If Sharon thinks he can trade off Gaza with maintaining large parts of the West Bank he will just add to the complexities,” Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said following Mr Sharon’s speech.

“Settlements in the West Bank are just as illegal as those in Gaza.”