U.S. REJECTS ISRAELI OBJECTIONS ON ROADMAP [IMRA: A gift to national camp?]
[IMRA: What happens after the 28 January elections? Would the Labor Party
insist, as a condition for joining the government, that Israel
unconditionally accepts the Road Map? After all, Amram Mitzna, who heads
Labor, already promises a fast unilateral withdrawal from Gaza = fast
unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state there to be followed by a
unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank if negotiations fail =
unilaterally extending the Palestinian state from Gaza into the West Bank.
Ironically, the Quartet may end up succeeding in doing what the national
camp has failed to do so far: preventing Ariel Sharon from forming a
government based on partnership with the Labor Party that is openly
committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.]
JERUSALEM [MENL] -- The United States has rejected virtually all of Israel's
reservations regarding an international plan for the establishment of a
Palestinian state.
Israeli diplomatic sources said the latest draft of the so-called roadmap
for a Palestinian state does not include any of Israel's proposed revisions.
The sources said the United States and its partners rejected Israeli
objections concerning the extent of an Israeli withdrawal, immediate
negotiations on the future of Jerusalem and the evacuation of Jewish
settlements.
"This document has turned into a major concern for us," a senior Israeli
official said.
The United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia appear to have
accepted only one objection by the government of Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon. The Quartet agreed to delay release of the roadmap until after the
Israeli elections on Jan. 28.
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