Sharon fleshes out his own `road map' [IMRA: News out to draw votes?]

Prime minister insists on a complete termination of terror and full PA
reform

By Aluf Benn Ha'aretz 26 January 2003

[IMRA: With hours left before the polls open is this news coming out in
order to encourage "moderates" to vote Likud? Will the information be
exploited by the other parties in the national camp to explain why they need
to be larger in order to prevent Likud from following a 'road map' to a
Palestinian state - even one that is temporarily not engaged in terror?
They certainly can point to Min. Rivlin's (Likud - opposes a Palestinian
state) statement last week that it doesn't matter to him what the ultimate
goals of a government are regarding the Palestinians since there will always
be time to stop it later via national referendum.]

A special team from the prime minister's bureau, headed by Dov Weisglass, is
finalizing the Israeli version of the "road map" in consultation with the
Defense and Foreign Ministries. The Israeli peace plan, which Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon hopes to bring before the next government, will be Jerusalem's
interpretation of the the speech made by U.S. President George Bush on June
24, 2002 and will constitute Israel's official response to the road map put
forth by the Quartet - the U.S., the United Nations, the European Union and
Russia.

According to the Israeli plan, Jerusalem will not comment on aspects of the
draft presented by the Quartet but will present its own detailed proposal.
It will also initiate a rushed implementation of its plan in order to
expedite reforms in the Palestinian Authority and strengthen ties with
moderate Palestinian leaders.

One of the prime motivations behind Sharon's proposal is to create the right
conditions for a political agreement within Israel, which will enable the
post-elections Labor Party to join the Likud in a national unity government.

Sharon is also trying to counter any effort to impose on Israel an
international plan that includes aspects he finds unacceptable.

"The Bush speech is acceptable to all sides, but there is a dispute over its
correct interpretation," said a senior diplomatic source. "Our plan will
accurately reflect the president's vision," the source added.

The Israeli plan follows Bush's vision for the creation of a Palestinian
state but will emphasize several principles, in particular an absolute end
to terrorism and a broad reform including a change in leadership to
transform the Palestinian Authority into a "properly functioning entity."
Only then will Israel accede to the establishment of a Palestinian state
within temporary borders, with limited sovereignty. As a final stage,
negotiations will be held over the final status agreement.

Israel will link progress with actual developments on the ground, and not to
a fixed time table.

"The plan has two halves. In the first half, [all responsibility] is placed
on the Palestinians and only when they prove themselves in a long list of
difficult demands, it will be time for the second half," said the senior
diplomatic source. If the Palestinians fulfill their part, there will be
broad public support for the plan in Israel, the source said.

"The Bush plan was formulated in cooperation with us, and includes essential
fundamentals that we had demanded."

As it stands currently, the Quartet's plan includes the establishment of a
Palestinian state by the end of 2003 within temporary borders. Prior to
this, a cease-fire must be achieved and the PA must undergo reforms, both of
a political/administrative nature, and in terms of its various security
systems. Simultaneously Israel will freeze all settlement activities and
withdraw from all PA territory reoccupied during the Intifada. A final
status agreement may be reached through negotiations by 2005 under the
guidance and inspection of the Quartet.

The implementation of the plan is headed by a team under Minister Dan
Meridor, who is working on steps to reinforce "elements bypassing
[Palestinian Chairman Yasser] Arafat." Israel is interested creating a basis
for "the day after" Arafat.

The two teams, one for formulating the peace plan and the other for its
implementation, are working separately but share a number of members.

The international road map will be brought before the foreign ministers of
the Quartet for approval in the coming weeks. The European Union has
demanded that the final version of the plan - the third version, completed
last month - be made public immediately following the elections here to
avoid any new changes. The U.S. administration would like to postpone the
authorization of the plan until the establishment of a new government in
Israel, and to allow for changes to the final version, based on the comments
of the two sides.

EU and UN diplomats are preparing detailed proposals for the implementation
of the plan, including an international inspection apparatus on the ground,
which would evaluate whether the conditions of each stage in the plan have
been met and whether it is possible to proceed further.

A diplomatic source said that "the draft of the road map is a general plan,
and it is logical that it be developed in detail. According to the road map,
step-by-step progress will be dependent on the performance of the two sides
and clear benchmarks for evaluating the performance must be established."