Sharon wants to draw Israel's borders

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By Ryan Jones
November 09, 2005

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon believes he is the only man capable of effectively setting Israel's final borders, and has not ruled out implementing a unilateral withdrawal from most of Judea and Samaria to do so.

That according to unnamed Sharon advisers who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.

?There is no doubt that Sharon wants to draw the borders,? one adviser said. ?Sharon thinks that only he can do it because he knows the land and this is his historic mission.?

Another adviser indicated Sharon would like to reach a final settlement together with the Palestinian Authority, but should negotiations fail ?he is not ruling out deciding the borders in the future without the Palestinians.?

That kind of unilateral decision would necessitate the forced evacuation of tens of thousands of Jewish residents from homes in Judea and Samaria, something Sharon repeatedly vowed he would never do following the Gaza ?disengagement.?

The Jews of Judea and Samaria regard that promise with skepticism, pointing out that Sharon once pledged the fate of the isolated Gaza settlement of Netzarim would be the same as the fate of Tel Aviv.

Reacting to the report, Sharon spokesman Assaf Shariv said the prime minister remains committed to the Road Map as ?only diplomatic plan for drawing Israel's final border.?

According to the terms of that internationally-backed plan, the issue of borders is to be ?considered only if the Palestinian Authority keeps its commitments and the third stage of the plan is reached,? Shariv noted.

In the early years of his premiership, Sharon advocated a protracted diplomatic process with the Arabs, deferring the official creation of a Palestinian Arab state for as long as possible.

His current policies, however, could lead to the de facto establishment of such an entity on key areas of Israel's biblical homeland on a much shorter timetable.

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