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Sharon in the Knesset. Too late to win back his core constituency? (AP file photo)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 22, 2005 |
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Speaking to Israeli expulsion forces on Sunday, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said there would be no further unilateral withdrawals. The next step would be a return to the stalled internationally backed "road map" peace plan, he said -- if his conditions were fulfilled.
"In order to move to the road map, terrorism must stop -- terrorism, violence, incitement -- terror organizations must be dismantled, their weapons confiscated, serious reforms carried out," Sharon said.
A senior government official confirmed a Jerusalem Post newspaper report quoting Sharon as saying Israel would continue to build in Judea and Samaria -- a policy that has put him into conflict with the U.S. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on policy matters.
The newspaper quoted Sharon as saying the Ariel bloc, near Tel Aviv, "will remain a part of Israel forever, connected territorially to Israel." The Maaleh Adumim bloc outside Jerusalem, he said, "will continue to grow and be connected to Jerusalem."
Sharon has said he hopes the Gaza pullout will help Israel hold on to the settlement blocs in any future peace deal. The future of Jewish settlements outside those blocs, where far fewer Israelis live, is less certain.
The AP contributed to this report.
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