Word: sharone
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...idea of withdrawing first from Gaza was originally put forth by former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who envisaged such an arrangement emerging in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority as a first step toward a comprehensive peace deal based on the 1967 borders. Sharon, however, developed his own version that cut the Palestinians out the equation altogether, and envisaged the Gaza withdrawal as an alternative to proceeding with the U.S.-backed "roadmap" toward a comprehensive settlement. Sharon has insisted that the Palestinian Authority, led by Yasser Arafat, is not an acceptable interlocutor, and therefore that there is no Palestinian partner with...
...Sharon's plan was adopted by Israel and the U.S. outside of any of the established negotiating mechanisms or processes from the Oslo Accord to the U.S.-backed "Roadmap," with no involvement from the Palestinian side. The Bush administration sought to spin it as a first step toward implementing the "Roadmap," which could turn out to be true but could just as easily be wishful thinking, because nothing in the plan requires or even references any of the steps envisaged in the roadmap. Indeed, while the U.S. was painting the plan as a bold first step, Sharon was telling Israelis...
...Having sidelined the Palestinians, who have been given little incentive to support the plan, the toughest test for Sharon has come in meeting the security establishment's requirement that Israel avoid at all costs being seen to evacuate under fire. It has become conventional wisdom for Israeli strategists today that Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in 1999 was a dangerous mistake, because it was proclaimed throughout the Arab world as an epic victory for Hezbollah's armed struggle, and led Palestinian militants to launch the September 2000 intifada in the belief that violence could drive Israel...
...Israel's previous withdrawals from parts of the West Bank and Gaza, under Oslo, had been undertaken on the basis of painstakingly detailed security agreements reached with the Palestinian Authority. But Sharon's plan envisaged no such deal, partly because of his reluctance to resume negotiations with a body led by Yasser Arafat, and partly because there are good reasons to doubt whether the PA today has capability, much less the political will, to rein in those who would fire on Israelis. The leadership under Arafat is unlikely to see much to be gained in helping implement a plan designed...
...basic security flaw in Sharon's plan is unlikely to be eliminated, even if Israel picks a brief lull in fighting as an opportunity to withdraw. That's because Sharon's plan requires the Israeli military to maintain control of a strip between Gaza and Egypt it calls the "Philadelphi Road." That would mean that like the Hezbollah gunners that target Israeli outposts in the disputed Shebaa Farms on the border, Palestinian gunners will continue have an immediate and accessible Israeli target in their sights even when the last settlers are gone...