Back Panel Quote
Settlement Report | Vol. 14 No. 3 | May-June 2004- Israel's Policy of "Creating Facts" Wins over the Bush Administration
- To Our Readers
- Settlements in the Evacuation Mix
- Bush Letter to Sharon Recognizes "Facts on the Ground"
- The Disengagement Plan
- Settlement Timeline
- Letter from Prime Minister Sharon to President Bush
- The Weissglass Letter
- Back Panel Quote
Israel must take the initiative to prevent political collapse,
which could be ensured by an initiative which will decrease the
ongoing friction between Israelis and Palestinians; friction
which leads to the pictures in the international media. This move
will contribute to the stabilization of security and reduction in
terror, and is primarily a step which will anchor a determined
American position in writing which rejects any political plan
which endangers Israel, any plan which does not pre-condition political
progress with the elimination of terror. The American
commitment will free us from having to accept and face pressure to
adopt policies which do not consider it necessary for the Palestinians
to fight terror.
We must take the political initiative in our hands in order to ensure the political and security interests of Israel for many years to come. These principles are at the core of the Disengagement Plan, which is the right thing for Israel to do: establishing a security line along which the IDF will be deployed in areas essential for Israel's defense; erecting a physical obstacle which assists in the defense of Israeli citizens and makes the penetration of terrorists to large population centers more difficult; withdrawal from areas which will clearly not be under Israeli control in any future permanent agreement and which are sources of great friction between Israelis and Palestinians, such as the Gaza Strip; and obtaining the political support of our friends around the world, headed by the United States, for the plan.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Israel's Annual Hi-Tech Conference, March 31, 2004
We must take the political initiative in our hands in order to ensure the political and security interests of Israel for many years to come. These principles are at the core of the Disengagement Plan, which is the right thing for Israel to do: establishing a security line along which the IDF will be deployed in areas essential for Israel's defense; erecting a physical obstacle which assists in the defense of Israeli citizens and makes the penetration of terrorists to large population centers more difficult; withdrawal from areas which will clearly not be under Israeli control in any future permanent agreement and which are sources of great friction between Israelis and Palestinians, such as the Gaza Strip; and obtaining the political support of our friends around the world, headed by the United States, for the plan.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Israel's Annual Hi-Tech Conference, March 31, 2004
