A senior source in the Prime Minister's Office, speaking with an Arutz-7 correspondent today, emphasized the following points:
"The media have distorted Sharon's position on a Palestinian state in order to confound the right-wing… A Palestinian state is not a realistic option at this point… Sharon is more concerned for the Land of Israel than any of his predecessors, and during his term in office the IDF has essentially re-conquered all of Yesha… Concerning the future of the Yesha communities, Sharon prefers to keep his stance somewhat vague in order to ward off diplomatic pressures to dismantle them. He still regrets his evacuation and dismantling of the Sinai communities [in 1982, as part of the Camp David accords with Egypt], and would not want to go through a similar experience again… The residents of Yesha are acting in an ungrateful manner to him…"
Many Yesha residents have in fact been upset by Sharon's support for a Palestinian state, his turning a blind eye to the dismantling of the Gilad Farm, and his willingness to bring left-wing extremist Amram Mitzna of Labor into his government coalition. Others say that his vision of a Palestinian state is such that it will never become a reality, and that partnering with Labor is his way of neutralizing the party's vociferous left-wing positions.
"The media have distorted Sharon's position on a Palestinian state in order to confound the right-wing… A Palestinian state is not a realistic option at this point… Sharon is more concerned for the Land of Israel than any of his predecessors, and during his term in office the IDF has essentially re-conquered all of Yesha… Concerning the future of the Yesha communities, Sharon prefers to keep his stance somewhat vague in order to ward off diplomatic pressures to dismantle them. He still regrets his evacuation and dismantling of the Sinai communities [in 1982, as part of the Camp David accords with Egypt], and would not want to go through a similar experience again… The residents of Yesha are acting in an ungrateful manner to him…"
Many Yesha residents have in fact been upset by Sharon's support for a Palestinian state, his turning a blind eye to the dismantling of the Gilad Farm, and his willingness to bring left-wing extremist Amram Mitzna of Labor into his government coalition. Others say that his vision of a Palestinian state is such that it will never become a reality, and that partnering with Labor is his way of neutralizing the party's vociferous left-wing positions.