A new investigative report in the Yisrael Hayom newspaper relates that two weeks after the Disengagement operation that removed all Jewish residents from Gaza in 2005, then-Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he intended to inform US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Disengagement from Gaza was just a prelude and that the United States could expect to see a similar operation undertaken in Judea and Samaria as well.
The report, to be published in full in tomorrow's newspaper, notes that Olmert realized that Sharon did not especially like the idea, yet he did not prevent Olmert from presenting it to Rice. Olmert reported back to Sharon on his meeting with Rice when he returned from the United States. Sharon, apparently, then consulted with his advisers on the desirability of acting according to Olmert's plan, in the event that the US-sponsored "Road Map" failed and negotiations with the Palestinians likewise failed to achieve anything. No decision, apparently, was reached on the subject.