| On the eve of the US presidential elections, Israel presented the administration of George W. Bush with an unpleasant surprise. Ariel Sharon's adviser, lawyer Dov Weisglass, said that the plan of unilateral separation from the Palestinians was conceived only to freeze the process of a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Former head of the Prime Minister's Office Dov Weissglass was one of the initiators of Sharon's disengagement plan with the Palestinians.
Mr. Weisglas explained that this was an indefinite postponement of consideration of issues related to the creation of a Palestinian state, including the evacuation of settlements, the return of Palestinian refugees and the division of Jerusalem. “This whole process is currently frozen. Ariel Sharon can confidently say that a serious step has been taken, as a result of which 190 thousand of the 240 thousand residents of the settlements will remain in their places,” Mr. Weisglas said.
Moreover, he allegedly managed to convince the Americans to agree that part of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank would remain untouched, and the issue of the other part of the settlements would not be discussed “until the Palestinians turn into Finns” - that is, not They will become peaceful and calm people. “Judging by the way Americans perceive the current situation, the Palestinians are to blame for everything that happened,” Mr. Weisglas said.
Ariel Sharon's office hastened to correct the mistake of the prime minister's political adviser. A statement was made that "the Prime Minister of Israel fully supports the Road Map and sees no other alternative to a peaceful settlement." At the same time, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said that he believes in the intention of the Israeli authorities to implement the Road Map plan.
Palestinian leaders condemned the remarks of the prime minister's adviser. According to Palestinian Authority Minister Saeb Erikat, Israel's actions are shattering the Palestinians' "dream of statehood." Sharon's circle calls Weisglas' words "unfortunate formulation." The Prime Minister himself prefers that the current American administration remain in the White House for another four years. Dmitry DUBOV, Jerusalem
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