The Foreign Minister of Austria told Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin yesterday that she was not aware that the disengagement was not a part of the Road Map plan. Furthermore, she said, her country's support for the disengagement, and that of the entire European Union, is based on their perception that the plan is part of the Road Map.
The Road Map is supported by the Quartet - namely, the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union. It is based entirely on the idea of reaching a comprehensive and agreed-upon settlement of the dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In addition, it states that Israel need not withdraw from any areas until such time as the PA fulfills its obligations regarding an end to terrorism. It also stipulates reforms that the PA leadership must make in its government.
The disengagement plan, on the other hand, is totally unilateral in that it demands nothing of the PA leadership. It does not even claim to be a part of a comprehensive agreement, and involves not the transfer of control of Gaza, but rather the abandonment thereof.
Austria's Foreign Minister Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner met with Rivlin yesterday. Rivlin, who opposes the disengagement plan, told his guest that the plan is not a part of the Road Map "because of the fact that there is currently no partner with whom Israel can carry out it out, and the Palestinians have not yet fulfilled one condition laid out in the Road Map."
Ferrero-Waldner expressed great surprise upon hearing this, and said, "This is the first time I am hearing that the disengagement is not part of the Road Map." She said that no Israeli official ever told her this fact.
Minister Ferrero-Waldner is to assume the post of EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner one month from now.
The Road Map is supported by the Quartet - namely, the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union. It is based entirely on the idea of reaching a comprehensive and agreed-upon settlement of the dispute between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In addition, it states that Israel need not withdraw from any areas until such time as the PA fulfills its obligations regarding an end to terrorism. It also stipulates reforms that the PA leadership must make in its government.
The disengagement plan, on the other hand, is totally unilateral in that it demands nothing of the PA leadership. It does not even claim to be a part of a comprehensive agreement, and involves not the transfer of control of Gaza, but rather the abandonment thereof.
Austria's Foreign Minister Dr. Benita Ferrero-Waldner met with Rivlin yesterday. Rivlin, who opposes the disengagement plan, told his guest that the plan is not a part of the Road Map "because of the fact that there is currently no partner with whom Israel can carry out it out, and the Palestinians have not yet fulfilled one condition laid out in the Road Map."
Ferrero-Waldner expressed great surprise upon hearing this, and said, "This is the first time I am hearing that the disengagement is not part of the Road Map." She said that no Israeli official ever told her this fact.
Minister Ferrero-Waldner is to assume the post of EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner one month from now.