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The American roadmap is not on the agenda at the moment: Netanyahu
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, November 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israel's new
caretaker Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Wednesday, November
8, that the U.S. peace roadmap was "not on the agenda" due to
the possibility of a U.S. strike on Iraq, Israel army radio reported.
"The
American roadmap is not on the agenda at the moment" and will
remain on hold until after any U.S. strike, the radio quoted Netanyahu
as saying.
The
tough-talking former Israeli premier was sworn in as caretaker foreign
minister Wednesday as the country prepared for early elections in which
he hopes to lead the right to victory, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
The
plan reportedly calls for Israel to withdraw to positions it held before
the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation started two
years ago, and also demands the dismantling of illegal outposts, a
settlement freeze and an end to military aggressions in Palestinian
autonomous areas.
Complying
with all the measures would lead to the creation of a de facto
Palestinian state without final borders by next year, with the shape of
the state to be finally thrashed out by 2005, AFP said.
Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said last month he accepted the principles
of the proposal, but rejected a total freeze on Jewish settlements in
the occupied Palestinian territories.
He
has expressed strong reservations about the plan, based on a U.S.
outline and developed by the so-called Middle East quartet of
Washington, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
Netanyahu's
appointment had already set alarm bells ringing among the Palestinians.
"This
government is perhaps the worst ever to govern Israel until now, and all
those who do not want the peace process and want to pursue the
aggression and occupation are part of it," senior Palestinian
official Nabil Shaath said in Cairo.
Newspapers
in the Arab world were full of equally pessimistic predictions for the
two-year Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
One,
Saudi Arabia's Al-Madina, said "the only winners will be the
extremists who will win their mandate on the Arab blood they
spill."
Netanyahu,
who is expected to square off soon against Sharon in a bid for the
leadership of their right-wing Likud party, immediately hit the campaign
trail. He said on public television he “regretted Israel had not
already expelled Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat” in retaliation for
Palestinian attacks.
Netanyahu
also said a U.S. strike on Iraq would provide an ideal cover to oust
Arafat during the upheaval in the region.
