Amidst warnings from some Cabinet colleagues not to promise any concessions to U.S. President Bush, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon departs this evening for a six-day visit to the United States. After meeting with Jewish leaders in New York, he will meet at length with Bush on Sunday, at which time he is expected to outline the concessions he is willing to propose to the Palestinians after they cease their violence. The Prime Minister\'s Office denied this week a Ma\'ariv newspaper report saying he would propose to withdraw from another 10% of Judea and Samaria.
National Religious Party head Rabbi Yitzchak Levy says that the Prime Minister is going to the U.S. \"simply to invite pressure upon himself for withdrawals and gestures.\" The newly-elected Secretary-General of the Yesha Council, Adi Mintz of Dolev, calls upon Sharon not to promise further withdrawals. \"He should remember that he himself called upon the residents of Yesha to take over as many hilltops as they could,\" Mintz said.
Bush and Sharon will also discuss a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, leading to a possible Iraqi retaliation against Israel, and what Israel\'s response might be.
Prime Minister Sharon emphasized again today that he will not give in on his demand for seven days of total quiet before beginning to implement the Mitchell Report, but then said that if in fact quiet is attained, he is willing to grant the Palestinian Authority a demilitarized state:
\"The Palestinians are, in my opinion, wasting a precious opportunity [with me as Prime Minister]. For to make peace is almost as painful as war, because it will require very painful concessions. It won\'t be easy for a leader to get up and tell the people what they will have to give up - but I think I can do it. It will require a national-unity government, of course; otherwise it will be very hard.
\"At the end of the process, after we pass through this period of no terrorism and quiet and co-existence and cooperation in various areas, at the end we will reach a solution that has a Palestinian state - but it has to be by agreement, and it has to be demilitarized, and it has to have other aspects that we require in order for us to exist...\"
Prior to his departure, Sharon will meet with Ministers Lieberman, Rivlin, Landau, and Elon. The Prime Minister called the meeting, but the ministers demand that he not discuss the formation of a Palestinian state with Bush.
National Religious Party head Rabbi Yitzchak Levy says that the Prime Minister is going to the U.S. \"simply to invite pressure upon himself for withdrawals and gestures.\" The newly-elected Secretary-General of the Yesha Council, Adi Mintz of Dolev, calls upon Sharon not to promise further withdrawals. \"He should remember that he himself called upon the residents of Yesha to take over as many hilltops as they could,\" Mintz said.
Bush and Sharon will also discuss a possible U.S. attack on Iraq, leading to a possible Iraqi retaliation against Israel, and what Israel\'s response might be.
Prime Minister Sharon emphasized again today that he will not give in on his demand for seven days of total quiet before beginning to implement the Mitchell Report, but then said that if in fact quiet is attained, he is willing to grant the Palestinian Authority a demilitarized state:
\"The Palestinians are, in my opinion, wasting a precious opportunity [with me as Prime Minister]. For to make peace is almost as painful as war, because it will require very painful concessions. It won\'t be easy for a leader to get up and tell the people what they will have to give up - but I think I can do it. It will require a national-unity government, of course; otherwise it will be very hard.
\"At the end of the process, after we pass through this period of no terrorism and quiet and co-existence and cooperation in various areas, at the end we will reach a solution that has a Palestinian state - but it has to be by agreement, and it has to be demilitarized, and it has to have other aspects that we require in order for us to exist...\"
Prior to his departure, Sharon will meet with Ministers Lieberman, Rivlin, Landau, and Elon. The Prime Minister called the meeting, but the ministers demand that he not discuss the formation of a Palestinian state with Bush.