Haaretz
Last update - 20:40 17/09/2005

U.S. voices disapproval of PM's warnings on Hamas
By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent (New York), Haaretz Service and
Agencies
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/625574.html

The United States announced Saturday that it disapproves of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon's statement that Israel will not allow Palestinian
elections to take place in the West Bank if Hamas participates in them.

Earlier, Sharon told journalists in New York that Israel does not intend
to allow the January elections with Hamas participation, unless the
group disarms and revokes its call for the destruction of the state of
Israel.

"I don't think they can hold elections without our assistance, and we
will make all possible efforts not to aid them if Hamas participates,"
Sharon said. He cited leaving army roaddblocks in place in the West Bank
and Jerusalem as a means of making it impossible for Palestinians to
reach voting stations.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said any Israeli interference would
only hurt Abbas and strengthen Hamas.

"I urge the Israelis to stay out of our elections and our internal
affairs, and not to put their noses in this," Erekat said. "Our election
... will be a turning point toward political pluralism and toward
maintaining law and order."

Mohammed Ghazal, a Hamas leader in the West Bank, accused Israel of
acting in an undemocratic fashion.

"Israel claims that it is the democratic state in the region but in fact
it fights democracy in Palestine," he said. "If we win the Palestinian
election, our top priority will be rebuilding the economic and social
and cultural life, rebuild what Israel has destroyed. We are not
thinking of destroying Israel."

Hamas made a strong showing in recent municipal elections and has said
it would participate in the parliamentary poll for the first time.

Earlier on Friday Sharon said that he plans to meet with Palestinian
Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on October 2.

"I will meet with Abbas if [MK Benjamin Netanyahu] doesn't defeat me,"
Sharon said jokingly, referring to internal rivalries that are certain
to define the Likud party's primaries.

Sharon's UN speech evokes Likud's and PA's criticism, Labor's praise
Several Palestinian officials said Friday that Sharon's speech at the
United Nations the day before, in which he called for a Palestinian
state, fell short of their expectations.

"The right of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel does not mean
disregarding the rights of others in the land," Sharon said in his
speech before the General Assembly on Thursday. "They [Palestinians] are
also entitled to freedom and to a national, sovereign existence in a
state of their own."

But Palestinian Authority security adviser Jibril Rajoub said that
message was insufficient.

"We need an unequivocal message: 'I want security for the Israelis,
within the '67 borders,'" Rajoub said Friday.

In his speech, Sharon referred to Jerusalem as Israel's "undivided and
eternal capital" and said Israel would continue building the West Bank
separation fence until the Palestinians end terror.

PA official Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Friday the speech shows Sharon is
interested in bringing about the failure of the internationally backed
road map, not in advancing the peace process, Israel Radio reported.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, meanwhile, called on Israel to hold
final-status talks with the Palestinians.

"We invite Sharon to resume negotiations including the issues of
borders,
refugees and Jerusalem, because peace is the way for Israel and
Palestinians to live in dignity and security," Erekat said. "We stand
ready in our responsibilities in the Palestinian Authority."

But while Palestinians saw the speech as not being conciliatory enough,
some Israeli politicians saw it as overly conciliatory.

MK Michael Ratzon (Likud) said Friday the speech constituted a farewell
to the Likud.

"Sharon didn't just divorce the Likud," Ratzon told Israel Radio.
"Sharon basically gave in to the left-wing parties in Israel... He is
the left."

MK Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon's main rival for chairmanship of the
Likud, saw the speech in a similar light. "In his speech, Sharon made it
clear that he has veered to the left and that he will continue his
policies of concessions and withdrawals," Netanyahu said.

Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Herzog (Labor) appeared to
bolster the right-wing position Friday, when he said Sharon's speech
reminded him of slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, who is lionized by
the left and reviled by the right for his role in the Oslo Accords.

Herzog said Sharon had presented a "possible platform for continued
cooperation" with Labor.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sharon's speech was not
intended to pacify either the Palestinians or the far-right "hilltop
youths" and their supporters, but to forge a middle path.

"This is not a farewell speech to the Likud," said Olmert. "This is a
speech that sets the Likud a challenge."

Sharon: Palestinians entitled to sovereignty
Sharon told the General Assembly on Thursday that "as someone whose path
of life led him to be a fighter and commander in all Israel's wars," he
reaches out "to our Palestinian neighbors in a call for reconciliation
and compromise to end the bloody conflict, and embark on the path which
leads to peace and understanding between our peoples." Sharon said he
viewed this as "my calling and my primary mission for the coming years."

Sharon appeared moved. Speaking in Hebrew, the prime minister gave the
speech a personal tone: "I was born in the Land of Israel, the son of
pioneers people who tilled the land and sought no fights, who did not
come to Israel to dispossess its residents. If circumstances had not
demanded it, I would not have become a soldier, but rather a farmer and
agriculturist. My first love was, and remains, manual labor: sowing and
harvesting, the pastures, the flock and the cattle."

Sharon's central political message was his call for the establishment of
a Palestinian state: "The right of the Jewish people to the Land of
Israel does not mean disregarding the rights of others in the land. The
Palestinians will always be our neighbors. We respect them, and have no
aspirations to rule over them. They are also entitled to freedom and to
a national, sovereign existence in a state of their own."

Sharon called on Israel and the Palestinians to "work together," in
order to "transform our plot of land, which is dear to both peoples,
from a land of contention to a land of peace, for our children and
grandchildren."

On the subject of disengagement, Sharon said Israel had proven it that
it was prepared to make painful concessions to resolve the conflict.
"Israeli society is undergoing a difficult crisis as a result of the
disengagement, and now needs to heal the rifts.

Sharon said the most important test of Palestinian leadership would be
fulfilling its commitment "to put an end to terror and its
infrastructures, eliminate the anarchic regime of armed gangs, and cease
the incitement and indoctrination of hatred toward Israel and the Jews."

He also presented his red lines: "There will be no compromise on the
right of the State of Israel to exist as a Jewish state, with defensible
borders, in full security and without threats and terror." Sharon
mentioned the UN resolution on the establishment of the Jewish state and
the hostile resolutions passed by the same body against Israel.

After his address, Sharon met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair,
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Australian Prime Minister John
Howard.