Sharon gets Bush to agree to his plan for the occupied territories - My Way News : "A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon thought that no American president had ever made concessions so important to Israel as Bush did on Wednesday.
Sharon, in gaining Bush's backing of his unilateral plan to withdraw all Jewish settlers and military installations from Gaza and from some areas of the West Bank, offered several concessions in a letter to Bush.
The Israeli leader said he would limit the growth of Jewish settlements and remove all unauthorized outposts on the West Bank. And Sharon said a security fence Israel is building to deter Palestinian attacks was 'temporary rather than permanent.'
Also, Sharon renewed his commitment to the so-called road map for peacemaking backed by the United States but said the Palestinian Authority had failed to stop terror and to reform its security service.
Bush called Sharon's plan historic and urged Palestinians to match Israel's 'boldness and courage.'
In his break with long-standing U.S. policy, Bush said it was unrealistic to expect Israel to disband all large Jewish settlements in the West Bank - or to return to the borders it held before capturing the territory in the 1967 Mideast war - in any final peace deal.
Behind the scenes, Bush administration officials tried to cast the day's events as Bush gaining concessions from Sharon. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinians' statements were viewed as simply reflecting anxiety that would be eased once they read Bush's and Sharon's statements on the issue, released separately.
But Bush, in a news conference with Sharon at his side, gave a key concession the Israeli leader had sought, saying there were 'new realities' on the West Bank since Israel captured the land along with Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war."
Sharon, in gaining Bush's backing of his unilateral plan to withdraw all Jewish settlers and military installations from Gaza and from some areas of the West Bank, offered several concessions in a letter to Bush.
The Israeli leader said he would limit the growth of Jewish settlements and remove all unauthorized outposts on the West Bank. And Sharon said a security fence Israel is building to deter Palestinian attacks was 'temporary rather than permanent.'
Also, Sharon renewed his commitment to the so-called road map for peacemaking backed by the United States but said the Palestinian Authority had failed to stop terror and to reform its security service.
Bush called Sharon's plan historic and urged Palestinians to match Israel's 'boldness and courage.'
In his break with long-standing U.S. policy, Bush said it was unrealistic to expect Israel to disband all large Jewish settlements in the West Bank - or to return to the borders it held before capturing the territory in the 1967 Mideast war - in any final peace deal.
Behind the scenes, Bush administration officials tried to cast the day's events as Bush gaining concessions from Sharon. A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinians' statements were viewed as simply reflecting anxiety that would be eased once they read Bush's and Sharon's statements on the issue, released separately.
But Bush, in a news conference with Sharon at his side, gave a key concession the Israeli leader had sought, saying there were 'new realities' on the West Bank since Israel captured the land along with Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war."
Comments