He then called on the "Palestinian nation" to display the same determination.
Sharon, sitting at a round table in Sharm a-Sheikh this afternoon across from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), was third and last to address the summit; Abdullah did not speak.
"This day will be remembered as the day on which the process began moving towards its conclusion," Sharon said, "towards the goal of living in quiet, respect and peace between all the nations in the Middle East." He attacked the "extremists on both sides," and said that we must make it clear to them that violence will not win. "We won't allow them to murder the hope... We must all commit ourselves not to suffice with a temporary respite, and not to allow violence to rear its head, but to act together with determination to dismantle the terror infrastructures, disarm them and break them once and for all."
Sharon congratulated Abu Mazen on his electoral victory of a month ago, and expressed the hope that he would be able to "lead his people in a democratic manner towards the establishment of a free and democratic Palestinian state."
Likud coalition whip MK Gideon Saar, an opponent of the disengagement plan but a proponent of Likud unity, expressed disappointment that the Prime Minister did not mention any specific goals that Israel wished to reach. "While Abu Mazen talked of attaining Jerusalem, and the return of refugees, and the stopping of settlements and the partition," Saar said, "Sharon said nothing that [extreme left-wing] Yossi Beilin couldn't agree with. He didn't mention Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital, nor anything that he would insist upon as a final Israeli position. This saddened me."
Sharon appeared to use the occasion to turn his disengagement plan from a unilateral withdrawal carried out in the face of a lack of a partner, into an agreed-upon diplomatic move. "If in fact there is a genuine change on the Palestinian side," Sharon said, "the disengagement can bring hope and become a new jumping-off point for a coordinated and successful process. It can pave the way for the beginning of the implementation of the Road Map, to which we are committed and which we want to implement."
PM Sharon said that we now have "an opportunity that we must not let slip by us. For the first time in a long while, our region sees a hope for a better future."
Mr. Sharon said that he had reached an agreement with Abu Mazen by which Israel would cease its military actions in exchange for a PA "struggle" against terrorism. He announced the establishment of a joint forum that would decide which terrorists would be included in the hundreds that Israel has agreed to release in the near future.
Turning towards his fellow Israelis, Sharon said, "We are marching towards steps saturated with difficult disputes, but we must overcome and implement the program."
Sharon called on Arab leaders in the region to "clasp hands together and create a new atmosphere of openness and tolerance. Together, we can build a dam against the radical forces of yesterday that threaten to drag us all into a whirlpool of blood and hatred... May we all be found worthy of this great opportunity that has fallen into our hands."
Abu Mazen, in his speech, said, "We must rebuild the trust between us... We disagree on many issues, such as the partition, settlements and prisoners, and we could not reach agreement on everything already today. But we have implemented the first stage of the Road Map, and we are determined to continue along the path of dialogue between the sides... We will fulfill all our obligations, with the help of our brothers in Egypt and Jordan and the Quartet [US, Russia, European Union and United Nations]... We will implement the rule of law and of reforms, and the language of negotiations will replace the language of shooting."
Sharon, sitting at a round table in Sharm a-Sheikh this afternoon across from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), was third and last to address the summit; Abdullah did not speak.
"This day will be remembered as the day on which the process began moving towards its conclusion," Sharon said, "towards the goal of living in quiet, respect and peace between all the nations in the Middle East." He attacked the "extremists on both sides," and said that we must make it clear to them that violence will not win. "We won't allow them to murder the hope... We must all commit ourselves not to suffice with a temporary respite, and not to allow violence to rear its head, but to act together with determination to dismantle the terror infrastructures, disarm them and break them once and for all."
Sharon congratulated Abu Mazen on his electoral victory of a month ago, and expressed the hope that he would be able to "lead his people in a democratic manner towards the establishment of a free and democratic Palestinian state."
Likud coalition whip MK Gideon Saar, an opponent of the disengagement plan but a proponent of Likud unity, expressed disappointment that the Prime Minister did not mention any specific goals that Israel wished to reach. "While Abu Mazen talked of attaining Jerusalem, and the return of refugees, and the stopping of settlements and the partition," Saar said, "Sharon said nothing that [extreme left-wing] Yossi Beilin couldn't agree with. He didn't mention Jerusalem as Israel's eternal capital, nor anything that he would insist upon as a final Israeli position. This saddened me."
Sharon appeared to use the occasion to turn his disengagement plan from a unilateral withdrawal carried out in the face of a lack of a partner, into an agreed-upon diplomatic move. "If in fact there is a genuine change on the Palestinian side," Sharon said, "the disengagement can bring hope and become a new jumping-off point for a coordinated and successful process. It can pave the way for the beginning of the implementation of the Road Map, to which we are committed and which we want to implement."
PM Sharon said that we now have "an opportunity that we must not let slip by us. For the first time in a long while, our region sees a hope for a better future."
Mr. Sharon said that he had reached an agreement with Abu Mazen by which Israel would cease its military actions in exchange for a PA "struggle" against terrorism. He announced the establishment of a joint forum that would decide which terrorists would be included in the hundreds that Israel has agreed to release in the near future.
Turning towards his fellow Israelis, Sharon said, "We are marching towards steps saturated with difficult disputes, but we must overcome and implement the program."
Sharon called on Arab leaders in the region to "clasp hands together and create a new atmosphere of openness and tolerance. Together, we can build a dam against the radical forces of yesterday that threaten to drag us all into a whirlpool of blood and hatred... May we all be found worthy of this great opportunity that has fallen into our hands."
Abu Mazen, in his speech, said, "We must rebuild the trust between us... We disagree on many issues, such as the partition, settlements and prisoners, and we could not reach agreement on everything already today. But we have implemented the first stage of the Road Map, and we are determined to continue along the path of dialogue between the sides... We will fulfill all our obligations, with the help of our brothers in Egypt and Jordan and the Quartet [US, Russia, European Union and United Nations]... We will implement the rule of law and of reforms, and the language of negotiations will replace the language of shooting."