Word: sharone
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Israelis and Palestinians haven't been entirely enthusiastic. Even the moderates around Abbas have few illusions about the kind of peace deal they'll get from Sharon, but they believe the armed intifada is a dead-end that ruins Palestinian chances of achieving statehood, and that their only hope is to restore their standing in Washington and among the Israeli public. They know Sharon will offer something way short of the draft agreement that had been on the table at Taba, but they also believe that Palestinian suicide bombers have terrorized the Israeli electorate into electing and reelecting the aging...
...Last week's wave of terror attacks and Israeli assassination strikes which together killed some 50 people on both sides underscored the impotence of the Arafat appointee who improbably carries U.S. hopes of pacifying the Palestinian street. Sharon didn't help matters when he publicly derided his Palestinian counterpart as a "featherless chick" who needed Israel to do his dirty work for him - a perception already shared by many Palestinians...
...sure march towards Palestinian statehood along the lines envisaged in the final talks between the Palestinian Authority and the government of Ehud Barak in their final talks at Taba in January 2001. The U.S. participated in the "quartet" discussions that initially shaped the plan, but Washington moved closer to Sharon's efforts to seek a military victory and endorsed his positions demanding the sidelining of PA president Yasser Arafat as one of a number of preconditions for renewed talks...
...Sharon's concerns are similar. He has made clear that he is negotiating not with the Palestinians, but with the U.S. Having proclaimed President Bush as Israel's best-ever friend in the White House, Sharon wants to avoid creating diplomatic difficulties for an administration whose stake in the Middle East has grown exponentially since it took possession of Iraq. At the same time, Sharon is keenly aware of the strongly pro-Likud sentiment of the hawkish faction of the Bush administration, which together with the overwhelming support on Capitol Hill for his own policies has given him the freedom...
...Having won U.S. backing for his insistence that a Palestinian crackdown on terrorism remains the top priority, Sharon feels little pressure to commit on issues such as settlements. Abbas has shown scant ability thus far to deliver any reduction in terror. A number of Israeli commentators even speculated on whether the Israeli military's attempt last week to assassinate the Number 2 political leader of Hamas was intended to make life even more difficult for Abbas. Not that the Palestinian prime minister was making much progress. Hamas had broken off talks with Abbas even before the latest Israeli assassination strikes...