Re: Israelis say "no" to Palestinian state

Bush says "Yes," though:
http://www.salon.com/politics/wire/2002/05/13/bush_palestine/index.html

> From: Kendall Clark <kendall-4GNy1lrxftmrG/[email protected]>
> Reply-To: bonobos-4GNy1lrxftmrG/[email protected]
> Date: Sun, 12 May 2002 23:17:44 -0500
> To: bonobos-4GNy1lrxftmrG/[email protected]
> Subject: [Bonobos] Israelis say "no" to Palestinian state
> 
> Israeli Ruling Party Votes Against Palestinian State
> 
> Decision Hinders Hopes for Peace; U.S. Continues to
> Support Palestinian State
> 
> By Angus MacSwan
> Reuters
> 
> JERUSALEM (May 12) - Israel's ruling Likud party dealt a further blow to
> prospects for Middle East peace talks by voting late on Sunday against any
> future establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
> 
> The Likud vote came at a heated party convention in Tel Aviv and marked a
> victory for former Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu over Prime Minister
> Ariel Sharon in a looming battle for the party leadership.
> 
> Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said the vote placed in danger any
> hope of an agreement. He said it showed the true intentions of Israel and
> would increase frustrations of Palestinians locked in a violent 19-month-old
> struggle against Israeli rule.
> 
> ''How many Palestinians will wake up tomorrow to say 'we have nothing to
> lose'?'' he told CNN. ''I hope it will be an eye-opener to (U.S.) President
> Bush.''
> 
> Reacting to the Likud party vote, the United States said it will continue to
> support the idea of a Palestinian state.
> 
> Asked about the vote, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Sean
> McCormack referred to President Bush's vision of Israel and a Palestinian
> state living in peace.
> 
> ''That is his vision for the region and we will continue working toward that
> vision,'' McCormack said, declining further comment.
> 
> After keeping the Middle East strife at an arm's length during much of his
> presidency, Bush last month reversed course and took a much more active role
> in seeking to end the violence and to nudge the parties toward negotiations.
> 
> In his April 4 speech laying out the change in policy, Bush said: ''The
> outlines of a just settlement are clear: two states, Israel and Palestine,
> living side by side, in peace and security.''
> 
> The vote strengthened the right-wing of Israel's Likud-led coalition
> government, which includes the leftist Labor party of Foreign Minister
> Shimon Peres.
> 
> Sharon had told the assembled party members Palestinians must end violence
> and reform their political structures before he would allow any talk of them
> establishing a state.
> 
> The party preferred the harder message delivered by Netanyahu, who vowed:
> ''A state with all the rights of a state, this cannot be, not under
> (Palestinian leader Yasser) Arafat, nor under another leadership, not today,
> nor tomorrow.''
> 
> 'DANGEROUS FOR ISRAEL'
> 
> Sharon described the vote as ''a dangerous one for the state of Israel, that
> will complicate its diplomatic efforts.'' Both sides are considering a U.S.
> proposal for a conference in the summer to try to restart the peace process.
> 
> ''The end game is now clear,'' Palestinian negotiator Erekat said. ''This
> war is not against terror but to continue ruling 3.3 million Palestinians.
> It is very dangerous and I hope it will be an eye opener to the world to
> show them who we are dealing with.''
> 
> Violence has racked the area since the Palestinians started a revolt against
> Israeli rule in September 2000. At least 1,347 Palestinians and 474 Israelis
> have been killed since then.
> 
> The military front was quieter on Sunday with the scrapping of an operation
> in the Gaza Strip that had been planned following a Palestinian suicide
> bombing near Tel Aviv on Tuesday which killed 15 people.
> 
> Israeli correspondents had reported that some generals had opposed a Gaza
> operation, warning of heavy Israeli army and Palestinian civilian
> casualties.
> 
> In the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Christian Palestinians flocked to the
> Church of the Nativity to pray there for the first time since the end of a
> 38-day Israeli siege of Palestinian militants inside.
> 
> Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, envoy of Pope John Paul, and Latin Patriarch
> Michel Sabbah led the prayers, urging Israelis and Palestinians to work for
> peace.
> 
> In Cyprus, 13 militants who were transferred there from the church in a deal
> taking them into exile waited to find out which countries would accept them.
> Cyprus said it wanted them to leave by Wednesday.
> 
> EU DECISION EXPECTED MONDAY
> 
> European Union foreign ministers were expected to decide on Monday which of
> the bloc's member states would take them.
> 
> The Likud vote also signaled a domestic battle for Sharon as Netanyahu
> attempts to win the leadership of the party before general elections
> scheduled for next year.
> 
> Netanyahu, putting forward his position, said that for peace, Israel needed
> complete territorial control, a buffer zone to restrict movements of
> Palestinians, and to expel or dispose of Arafat.
> 
> ''It is clear now that we cannot reach any kind of solution at all with the
> Palestinians,'' Netanyahu said.
> 
> Sharon himself has long been reluctant to deal with the issue of a
> Palestinian state. He told the meeting: ''We do not deal at all with the
> Palestinian state now. It does not stand on the agenda of the day.''
> 
> He enjoyed popular approval from many Israelis for reacting to suicide
> bombings and attacks against Israeli citizens with tough military force,
> including a crushing offensive in the West Bank last month.
> 
> He received an approval rating of 68 percent in the last poll published on
> Friday.
> 
> But 57 percent of those polled for a survey published in the mass
> circulation Maariv newspaper also supported a land-for-peace deal put
> forward by Saudi Arabia.
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