"If Israel's comments on the Road Map plan are not accepted, the chance of implementing the plan will be very small." So says Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. Representatives of the Prime Minister's Office and the Defense Ministry are in Washington this week, discussing the changes Israel would like to introduce with American Administration officials. Israel has proposed 15 amendments for the plan, many of them dealing with security issues. Israel's basic demand is that the Palestinian Authority disband and demilitarize all the terrorist groups before any other steps are implemented.
The Road Map plan as originally formulated calls for the formation of a Palestinian state in two stages, beginning with non-permanent borders this very year. The plan also demands that Israel provide economic help to the PA, reduce restrictions on Arab travel despite the ever-present threat of terrorism, destroy hilltop communities in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), and freeze construction for the 250,000 residents of Yesha.
Though Israel's government has never accepted the notion of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often stated his personal support for such an entity. He has qualified his stand, however, 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.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany said today that the states of the European Union have accepted the US-designed Road Map and will be acting soon to see that it is implemented. He made the comments after a meeting today with Abu 'Alaa, the chairman of the PA Legislative Council. Fischer also met with PLO leader Yasser Arafat today, in Ramallah.
At least one PA organization has said it will not accept the Road Map plan. Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigades terrorist organization warned the PA leadership today that its acceptance of the plan will lead to a civil war within the Authority. It also announced today that Iraq and the PA stand together in a mutual war against the "the American Zionist conqueror."
The Road Map plan as originally formulated calls for the formation of a Palestinian state in two stages, beginning with non-permanent borders this very year. The plan also demands that Israel provide economic help to the PA, reduce restrictions on Arab travel despite the ever-present threat of terrorism, destroy hilltop communities in Yesha (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), and freeze construction for the 250,000 residents of Yesha.
Though Israel's government has never accepted the notion of a Palestinian state, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has often stated his personal support for such an entity. He has qualified his stand, however, 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.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany said today that the states of the European Union have accepted the US-designed Road Map and will be acting soon to see that it is implemented. He made the comments after a meeting today with Abu 'Alaa, the chairman of the PA Legislative Council. Fischer also met with PLO leader Yasser Arafat today, in Ramallah.
At least one PA organization has said it will not accept the Road Map plan. Fatah's Al-Aksa Brigades terrorist organization warned the PA leadership today that its acceptance of the plan will lead to a civil war within the Authority. It also announced today that Iraq and the PA stand together in a mutual war against the "the American Zionist conqueror."