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Sharon woos Washington with unilateral plan

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon headed to Washington yesterday to win US backing for a plan to give up the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank in exchange for keeping and expanding five large West Bank settlement blocs.

Sharon disclosed the final element of the plan just hours before departing. In a visit to the West Bank's largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim, he listed for the first time the West Bank areas he plans to keep.

US President George W. Bush apparently has no problem with Israeli withdrawals -- on Monday he said a Gaza pullout would be a "positive development" -- but it appears unlikely he is ready to declare now that Israel can keep parts of the West Bank. Such a declaration would violate the US-backed "road map" peace plan, which says the borders of a Palestinian state must be negotiated by both sides.

Bush reiterated Monday that "if Israel makes the decision to withdraw, it doesn't replace the road map."

Still, Sharon is hoping Bush can help him persuade hardliners in his Likud Party to back a withdrawal. Some 200,000 Likud members are to vote on the "disengagement" plan on April 29, and approval is not assured.

If Sharon fails, he could come under pressure to resign.

Sharon has said he would honor the outcome of the vote, but has not spoken about resigning if he loses. However, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, yesterday referred to such a possibility. If the Likud members vote no, "they are destroying the political basis of the government headed by Sharon," Olmert told Israel Army Radio.

Olmert said some opponents of the disengagement are trying to topple Sharon.

According to senior Israeli government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, Sharon and Bush will exchange letters at today's meeting, outlining commitments to the withdrawal plan and to the road map.

Sharon's letter will say that Israel will pull out of all 21 Gaza Strip settlements and four isolated West Bank enclaves, the officials said. In exchange, Bush will say Israel has a right to "pursue terrorists," including in areas from which it has pulled out, the officials said.

Israeli officials have said the US has turned down Israel's request for recognition of West Bank settlement blocs. Olmert said yesterday that he didn't expect formal US backing for Israel retaining the five settlement blocs Sharon listed, but that he was confident Washington will give a general okay.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this will be expressed, in one way or another, in the joint statement to be made by the president and the prime minister," Olmert said.

On another Israeli demand -- backing for Israel's position that Palestinian refugees not be allowed the right to return to their former homes in Israel -- Sharon could at best expect a murky statement, Israeli officials said.

"There appears to be nothing new," said Yossi Alpher, an expert on Israel-US relations, of the emerging guarantees. "But it appears to be ambiguous enough to allow Sharon ... [by] putting a lot of spin on it, to persuade his fellow Likudniks."

The road map calls for a freeze in construction in the Israeli settlements ahead of talks on a final peace deal. Both Israel and the Palestinians have violated their commitments, while formally declaring they still abide by the plan.
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