Israel ties Gaza pullout to US support in West Bank

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-mideast.html

Wow, can one say tit for tat. There's always a catch, isn't there.

Snip--

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel wants U.S. support for annexing major West Bank settlement clusters in return for evacuating Gaza unilaterally amid an impasse in peace talks with the Palestinians, political sources said on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says his ``disengagement plan'' aims to defuse conflict. Palestinians say it would strip them of land they seek for a viable state under a U.S.-backed ``road map'' peace plan that has been sidelined by violence

but it just goes to show that Israel's actions just don't happen without that U.S. support.

Perhaps a first step toward a negotiation of the disputed territories. Hopefully the pragmatic parties involved will realize parts of the West Bank will be annexed.

Sharon has no right to decide which particular parts of the West Bank should be annexed. That should happen in future negotiations, not unilateral decisions by the Israeli government.

Apparently Palestinian authorities are being kept informed.

is Palestinian land not American land. Sharon should be talking to Arafat instead of Shrub and Powell.?

he should be apologizing for stealing so much already, and doing everything he can to accomodate the people who have had their homes destroyed and lives ruined all due to Israel's ongoing land-theft.

for defending Israel's children. Palestinians will deal with destruction in their land, as will Israel.

Better he be excluded.

Just wondering, as both have more than enough blood on their hands.

and that he should be excluded?

Slightly more honest, and mentioned repeatedly in these terms:

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Associates of Sharon are already working on a compensation plan for the right, in the hope that this will convince the NRP and National Union not to leave the government.

"When it becomes clear what we’re getting in return and what Israel might achieve through the withdrawal from Gaza, many people will change their mind", said senior sources close to Sharon.

The compensation package ... is supposed to be coordinated with the US during the PM's visit to Washington and the preparatory visit by Sharon's Bureau Chief, Dov Weissglass.

The compensation package for the right is to include the annexation of Ma’ale Adumim and the Gush Etzion bloc, US agreement to further constructions in central settlements, on which there is a consensus in Israel, US approval of the present path of the fence, a US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and a US consent that no Israeli settlement will be removed from the West Bank till a final agreement will be reached.

Morever, the package is to include an Israeli declaration (US backed) of the framework of any military response to terror acts against Israel, or rocket fire from out of Gaza after withdrawal. Jerusalem hopes to get an agreement in front of the American's (that) Israel be permitted to respond by severe bombing, liable to also kill many civilians, if shooting continues inside of the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal - a similar balance of terror exists on the Lebanese border.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=124&topic_id=51533

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(Bold elements added - note that this is what Israel wants - it probably will not get it all. That is for the citizens of the U.S. to determine. Hard, if they're not going to be told the facts)