George Bush will meet Israeli, Palestinian and Arab leaders in the Middle East early next month to push forward the US-driven ”road map” to peace after its conditional and reluctant approval by the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.
The Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, yesterday confirmed that the summit could take place as early as the end of next week, probably in Jordan.
The meeting is seen by the Palestinians and Israelis alike as a test of the seriousness of Bush’s commitment to the peace plan, and his willingness to put pressure on the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, to adhere to the road map’s requirements for Israel to give up Jewish settlements and establish a viable, independent Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, the South African government welcomed the endorsement of the plan and said it was an ”encouraging development in an otherwise necessary road to peace”.
”Such steps help create the desired conditions for peace as required by the international community and indeed brings about hope for the ordinary Israeli’s and Palestinians,” said the foreign affairs department
News of the meeting came as European diplomats were accusing the Israeli army of shooting at them as they tried to leave a Palestinian area at Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip.
Representatives of Britain, Switzerland, Greece, Sweden and Austria were travelling together when they came under fire. One vehicle was hit twice but no one was hurt. The Israeli army said it was checking the claim.
On Friday Bush said he would meet Sharon and the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, if it would promote peace. But US officials have said the administration wants to see practical demonstrations of commitment to the road map from both sides in the coming days.
However, Sharon typically offered mixed signals on his commitment to the peace process yesterday. He told Israel radio that he will ”make every effort” to advance the road map despite his own doubts about the document.
But later in the day he reassured one of his party’s parliamentarians that the government would continue to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, even though the first stages of the road map require it to dismantle smaller illegal outposts and to freeze expansion of larger settlements.
”[The road map] certainly allows the unlimited building for your children and grandchildren, and I hope even for your great-grandchildren,” Sharon said.
The first stage of the agreement requires the Palestinian authorities to launch ”sustained, targeted and effective operations aimed at confronting all those engaged in terror, [the] dismantlement of terrorist capabilities and infrastructure” and to undertake democratic reforms.
The Israelis are required to withdraw from Palestinian areas occupied since the launch of the intifada in September 2000, to ease the humanitarian burden on Palestinian civilians and to freeze or dismantle settlements.
But the Israelis continue to insist that Abbas has to ”prove” his commitment to ”fighting terror” before Israel meets its obligations, whereas the Palestinians point out that the road map specifically states that there is to be parallel implementation.
Sharon is expected to hold a second meeting with Abbas this week. The two men met 10 days ago but failed to move beyond Sharon’s demand for the Palestinian leadership to crack down on ”terror”, and Abbas’s insistence that the Israeli prime minister endorse the plan.
Sharon attempted to reassure angry members of his party yesterday who attacked his decision to push through the cabinet vote on the plan without consulting them.
”It is not possible to continue holding three and a half million people under occupation,” Sharon told them. ”This is a terrible thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and for the Israeli economy. Today 1,8-million Palestinians live thanks to support from international organisations. Do you want to take responsibility for them yourselves? I do not think that it is right to control Bethlehem and Ramallah.”
But dissent is widespread, even within the government. A partner in Sharon’s coalition, the far-right National Union party, has split over whether to bring down the government over the cabinet’s backing of the road map.
Shaul Mofaz, the defence minister, distanced himself further from the plan by saying the cabinet vote was not a commitment. – Guardian Unlimited Â