Sharon met with reporters after his talk with Condoleezza Rice, which was in preparation for his meeting today (Monday evening, Israel time) with President Bush. The Prime Minister made clear that in light of the ongoing barrage of mortar shells and rockets at Gush Katif - Jewish Gaza - over the past two days, he will demand that Abu Mazen make good on his promises and totally uproot terrorist infrastructures.
Sharon said that if Abu Mazen doesn't, Israel will do it itself – though he did not indicate a time frame.
Over 100 Arab-fired rockets have fallen on Gush Katif since Saturday afternoon, according to the official Gaza Coast Regional Council count. Three houses suffered direct hits, a horse in a stable just outside a house was killed by shrapnel – but no one was hurt.
The Prime Minister told reporters on his plane to Washington, D.C. that the bombardment was a flagrant violation of the understandings reaching with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in Sharm el-Sheikh on February 8. According to those understandings, Israel agreed to hand over security control of Arab-populated cities in Judea and Samaria to PA control, in return for an unequivocal fight by the PA against terror.
A major issue of contention between Bush and Sharon is expected to be Sharon's recent announcement of the planned construction of 3,500 housing units between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem. The irony is that there are no immediate construction plans, and yet the issue has still become an important matter of principle for both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA has come out against the plans, and Bush has already stated publicly that he agrees: “What I say publicly, I say privately," he said on his way back from the Pope's funeral, "and that is that the Road Map has clear obligations on settlements, and that we expect the prime minister to adhere to those obligations."
Generally overlooked is the fact that Israel's commitment to the Road Map is contingent upon strong PA actions against terrorism – actions that have not been taken to date. The Israeli Cabinet decision of May 2003, in which the Road Map was approved, specifically noted 14 reservations that are intrinsic to Israel's acceptance of the plan. Prime Minister Sharon called them "red lines beyond which we cannot and will not withdraw."
The reservations state that "there must be no terrorism during the process," that the PA must "dismantle the existing security organizations," and that "full performance will be a condition for progress between phases and for progress within phases." As such, Israel is not technically bound by the construction ban.
Some commentators have noted that this will be the first time an American president is hosting an Israeli leader in his personal home – and that Israel will have to pay a price for this.
On the other hand, Sharon will remind Bush of his letter of a year ago in which Bush wrote that "new realities" will have to be taken into account for final-status talks. "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949," Bush wrote. Maaleh Adumim is the largest "major Israeli population center" in Judea and Samaria.
Secretary Rice said last week, however, that the construction plans in Maaleh Adumim are "at odds" with US policy.
Bush is expected to show public support for Sharon's "courageous decision" in implementing the disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reported yesterday that the withdrawal from these areas is liable to undermine Israel's long-time claims that the areas liberated during the Six Day War of 1967 are vital for Israel's security.
Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in favor of Israel and against U.S. pressure in Crawford, Texas today during the Bush-Sharon meeting. The rally was organized by Women in Green, Pastor Jim Vineyard, the Freeman Center in nearby Houston, and others.
Rev. Vineyard, pastor of the 3,500-member Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, told the LA Times, "I wish I could be with President Bush for 15 minutes, to stand with him with a Bible and tell him that when he stands before the judgment seat..., he will have to give an answer... why he gave the little land of Israel to the Arabs."
The demonstrators will also demand that Sharon ask, and Bush agree, to release Jonathan Pollard from prison.
Sharon said that if Abu Mazen doesn't, Israel will do it itself – though he did not indicate a time frame.
Over 100 Arab-fired rockets have fallen on Gush Katif since Saturday afternoon, according to the official Gaza Coast Regional Council count. Three houses suffered direct hits, a horse in a stable just outside a house was killed by shrapnel – but no one was hurt.
The Prime Minister told reporters on his plane to Washington, D.C. that the bombardment was a flagrant violation of the understandings reaching with PA leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) in Sharm el-Sheikh on February 8. According to those understandings, Israel agreed to hand over security control of Arab-populated cities in Judea and Samaria to PA control, in return for an unequivocal fight by the PA against terror.
A major issue of contention between Bush and Sharon is expected to be Sharon's recent announcement of the planned construction of 3,500 housing units between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem. The irony is that there are no immediate construction plans, and yet the issue has still become an important matter of principle for both Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The PA has come out against the plans, and Bush has already stated publicly that he agrees: “What I say publicly, I say privately," he said on his way back from the Pope's funeral, "and that is that the Road Map has clear obligations on settlements, and that we expect the prime minister to adhere to those obligations."
Generally overlooked is the fact that Israel's commitment to the Road Map is contingent upon strong PA actions against terrorism – actions that have not been taken to date. The Israeli Cabinet decision of May 2003, in which the Road Map was approved, specifically noted 14 reservations that are intrinsic to Israel's acceptance of the plan. Prime Minister Sharon called them "red lines beyond which we cannot and will not withdraw."
The reservations state that "there must be no terrorism during the process," that the PA must "dismantle the existing security organizations," and that "full performance will be a condition for progress between phases and for progress within phases." As such, Israel is not technically bound by the construction ban.
Some commentators have noted that this will be the first time an American president is hosting an Israeli leader in his personal home – and that Israel will have to pay a price for this.
On the other hand, Sharon will remind Bush of his letter of a year ago in which Bush wrote that "new realities" will have to be taken into account for final-status talks. "In light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli population centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949," Bush wrote. Maaleh Adumim is the largest "major Israeli population center" in Judea and Samaria.
Secretary Rice said last week, however, that the construction plans in Maaleh Adumim are "at odds" with US policy.
Bush is expected to show public support for Sharon's "courageous decision" in implementing the disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reported yesterday that the withdrawal from these areas is liable to undermine Israel's long-time claims that the areas liberated during the Six Day War of 1967 are vital for Israel's security.
Thousands of people are expected to demonstrate in favor of Israel and against U.S. pressure in Crawford, Texas today during the Bush-Sharon meeting. The rally was organized by Women in Green, Pastor Jim Vineyard, the Freeman Center in nearby Houston, and others.
Rev. Vineyard, pastor of the 3,500-member Windsor Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, told the LA Times, "I wish I could be with President Bush for 15 minutes, to stand with him with a Bible and tell him that when he stands before the judgment seat..., he will have to give an answer... why he gave the little land of Israel to the Arabs."
The demonstrators will also demand that Sharon ask, and Bush agree, to release Jonathan Pollard from prison.