Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Cabinet began charting Israel’s future borders in a historic session Sunday, giving final approval to a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a revised route for the West Bank separation barrier that would move Israel’s border closer to that of its original frontier.
With the vote, an Israeli government agreed for the first time since capturing the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Mideast war to dismantle some of the dozens of Jewish settlements it has built there. However, approving the route of the barrier, Israel acted unilaterally on what was to be a key issue in peace talks with the Palestinians, and signaled it will keep a chunk of prime West Bank land close to Jerusalem, including two large Jewish settlement blocs.
While the Palestinians have balked at Israel’s go-it-alone approach, they avoid declaring the moves a deal-breaker in a reinvigorated peace process.
“Israel is creating facts on the ground in the West Bank,” Palestinian legislator Hanan Ashrawi said. “Sharon wants payback in the West Bank for the disengagement from Gaza, particularly Jerusalem.”
The Gaza withdrawal won approval from 17 Cabinet ministers, including eight from the moderate Labor Party, while five ministers from Sharon’s ruling Likud Party voted against it.
Sharon, a former settler patron, said the dismantling of 21 settlements in Gaza and four in the West Bank is vital for Israel’s security. He later signed an order requiring some 9,000 settlers to leave their homes in these areas by July 20 or face removal by force.
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Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Martin Gee (mtgee@tribune.com)
