Representatives of the Prime Minister's Office and the Defense Ministry will be departing for Washington tonight, in an attempt to introduce some changes in the Road Map plan. They hope to have the corrections made in the "formulation" stage, and not, as the UN wants, in the "implementation" stage.
The Road Map plan calls for the formation of a Palestinian state in two stages, beginning with non-permanent borders this very year. The plan's demands upon Israel also include economic help to the PA, reducing restrictions on Arab travel despite the ever-present threat of terrorism, the evacuation of hilltop communities in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), and the freezing of construction for the 250,000 residents of Yesha.
Israeli officials have confirmed that Israel has 15 proposed amendments for the plan, many of them dealing with security issues. Israel's basic demand is that the PA disband and demilitarize all the terrorist groups before any other steps are implemented.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often stated his support for a PA state, though he has qualified his stand with an insistence that the PA state be demilitarized and that Israel control its borders and airspace. This does not appear to be the American position, however.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that he thinks the U.S. will publicize the plan the same day that Abu Mazen presents the new Palestinian Authority government under his leadership - which could be any time between this Wednesday and two weeks from now. "The Europeans, and the U.S. to a lesser extent, see Abu Mazen as some kind of Messiah," Shalom said. "But we must remember that Abu Mazen has a very extremist and uncompromising stand regarding the 'Right of Return,' which is practically the only issue on which all Israelis agree." The Arabs demand that the millions of Arabs and their descendants who left Israel in 1948 be allowed to return - their "quick and easy" way of turning Israel into a non-Jewish state.
The Road Map plan calls for the formation of a Palestinian state in two stages, beginning with non-permanent borders this very year. The plan's demands upon Israel also include economic help to the PA, reducing restrictions on Arab travel despite the ever-present threat of terrorism, the evacuation of hilltop communities in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), and the freezing of construction for the 250,000 residents of Yesha.
Israeli officials have confirmed that Israel has 15 proposed amendments for the plan, many of them dealing with security issues. Israel's basic demand is that the PA disband and demilitarize all the terrorist groups before any other steps are implemented.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often stated his support for a PA state, though he has qualified his stand with an insistence that the PA state be demilitarized and that Israel control its borders and airspace. This does not appear to be the American position, however.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said that he thinks the U.S. will publicize the plan the same day that Abu Mazen presents the new Palestinian Authority government under his leadership - which could be any time between this Wednesday and two weeks from now. "The Europeans, and the U.S. to a lesser extent, see Abu Mazen as some kind of Messiah," Shalom said. "But we must remember that Abu Mazen has a very extremist and uncompromising stand regarding the 'Right of Return,' which is practically the only issue on which all Israelis agree." The Arabs demand that the millions of Arabs and their descendants who left Israel in 1948 be allowed to return - their "quick and easy" way of turning Israel into a non-Jewish state.