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Sharon addresses the UN General Assembly. (AP)
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| By Associated Press September 16, 2005 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told a U.N. summit of world leaders on Thursday that the Palestinians are entitled to their own state, and his country has no desire to rule over them.
Sharon urged reconciliation and compromise with Palestinians to end their conflict. But he said that after Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, it was now up to the Palestinians to "prove their desire for peace" by putting a halt to terror and disarming militants.
"The Palestinians will always be our neighbors. We respect them and have no aspiration to rule over them," Sharon said. "They are also entitled to freedom, and to a national, sovereign existence in a state of their own."
The General Assembly hall gave Sharon courteous applause when he finished his speech. Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa sat with his arms folded over his chest.
"We invite Sharon to resume negotiations including the issues of borders, refugees and Jerusalem, because peace is the way for Israel and Palestinians to live in dignity and security," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said later Thursday. "We stand ready in our responsibilities in the Palestinian Authority."
The Palestinians are afraid Sharon won't take the Gaza withdrawal forward to broader peacemaking that would lead to a Palestinian state. They suspect he will instead use it to tighten Israel's grip on major West Bank settlement blocs -- land the Palestinians see as part of their notional state.
The Israeli leader made it clear on Wednesday that he had every intention of continuing to build on these lands.
In his speech, however, Sharon told the General Assembly that the Gaza pullout "opens a window of opportunity for advancing toward peace," on the basis of the long-stalled, U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan.
The plan foundered shortly after its introduction two years ago because both sides failed to comply with initial provisions: Israel continued to build settlements, and the Palestinians didn't disarm militant factions.
While adopting a conciliatory tone to the Palestinians, Sharon also drew red lines. He reasserted Israel's claims to disputed Jerusalem as its "eternal and united capital," and said Israel would finish building a contentious barrier that dips into Judea and Samaria (the "West Bank" of the Jordan River), putting up to 8 percent of its territory on the "Israeli" side.
Palestinians see the eastern sector of Jerusalem as the capital of a future state, and the competing claims have made the city one of the most contentious issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
The Palestinians also dispute Israel's claim that the separation barrier was designed to defend Israel against terror attacks, calling it a thinly disguised land grab.
Earlier Thursday, Israel's Supreme Court rejected the International Court of Justice's non-binding call to remove the barrier, but instructed the government to reroute a section to avoid encircling Palestinian villages.
The 680-kilometer (425-mile) barrier is about one-third completed.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Despite the warm reception Sharon received, some of his Likud Party colleagues were not impressed.
"The world always loves Israeli leaders when they fold up in the face of international pressures," said MK David Levy.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Sharon's first-class treatment was the result of toeing the international community's secular liberal line, which negates Israel's biblical right to its land.
Sharon's top-rated rival in the prime ministerial race, Binyamin Netanyahu, blasted Sharon for having "traded territory for red carpets" -- a clever wordplay in Hebrew.
Despite his red carpet welcome, Israel Radio reported Sharon was nervous about political problems back home, phoning Israel at least twice a day to check with remaining party ally Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the situation within the Likud.
Sharon's speech to the General Assembly Thursday night, delivered in Hebrew, was clearly directed at influencing his party's central committee in an effort to stave off early primaries.
Most central committee members have expressed fury with Sharon for trampling the Likud's core platform with his Gaza-Samaria pullout.
The AP and Jerusalem Newswire contributed to this report.
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