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Israel likely to keep 180,000 settlers-Sharon aide
04 Aug 2005 19:31:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
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JERUSALEM, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Israel expects at least 180,000 of the current 240,000 settlers in the occupied West Bank will be able to stay in their homes with approval from the United States, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Thursday. Senior adviser Dov Weisglass made the remarks two weeks ahead of Israel's evacuation of 9,000 settlers from the Gaza Strip and a corner of the West Bank in a plan Israel bills as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians. Washington has touted the Gaza pullout as a potential springboard to renewed peacemaking with Palestinians seeking statehood on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. But no further withdrawals are scheduled. In support of Sharon's plan, Washington said last year that Israel could expect to keep some occupied land in any final peace deal with the Palestinians. "Altogether, we talk about 180,000 settlers of a total population of 240,000. So this is of course a significant step forward in this matter," Weisglass said in a conference broadcast on Israeli radio. He said that Washington backed Israel keeping major settlement blocs as "an integral part of the state of Israel". "It means the entire area of greater Jerusalem, the city of Maale Adumim, the settlements in the Gush Etzion area and the bloc of settlements around Ariel." The Gaza pullout will mark the first time Israel has evacuated settlements on land Palestinians want for a state. Palestinians fear it is a ruse to strengthen Israel's hold on the West Bank. Israeli right-wingers, who cite biblical claims to the land, say it amounts to surrender to Palestinians waging armed conflict against the Jewish state.
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