Former President Ezer Weizman, a veteran of both the Likud and Labor parties and who supported Ariel Sharon in the election campaign, said today that he believes that Sharon “will not hesitate to uproot individual settlements [in Judea and Samaria] in order to reach an agreement with the Palestinians.” Sharon himself, however, told Arutz-7 the day after receiving the Likud\'s Prime Ministerial nomination two months ago, “I will not dismantle a single settlement, period.”
Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson notes that the question is essentially a moot one, since an agreement with Yasser Arafat does not appear to be in the offing, given Arafat\'s refusal to make peace with Israel even on the more generous terms offered by Barak.
Likud MK Ruby Rivlin said last night that Sharon might agree to turn over joint Israeli-Palestinian controlled areas to full PA control, thus leaving certain settlements in total isolation. This is in keeping with a plan approved by Sharon last November that was to have served as a basis for a national unity government headed by Ehud Barak. The plan - which was not necessarily accepted by other Likud MKs - called for territorial contiguity between the Palestinian-controlled areas.
Arutz-7\'s Yosef Zalmanson notes that the question is essentially a moot one, since an agreement with Yasser Arafat does not appear to be in the offing, given Arafat\'s refusal to make peace with Israel even on the more generous terms offered by Barak.
Likud MK Ruby Rivlin said last night that Sharon might agree to turn over joint Israeli-Palestinian controlled areas to full PA control, thus leaving certain settlements in total isolation. This is in keeping with a plan approved by Sharon last November that was to have served as a basis for a national unity government headed by Ehud Barak. The plan - which was not necessarily accepted by other Likud MKs - called for territorial contiguity between the Palestinian-controlled areas.