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“I want to arrive at an arrangement with the Palestinians, because that will be the only solution to Israel's ailing economy.”
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, November 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – While
waiting to the Likud members to decide the party’s leadership, the
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that he considers a Palestinian state
an established fact, the Israeli daily Jerusalem Post reported Thursday,
November 14.
“When
you look, you see that all the government structures already exist,”
Sharon said in an interview on Channel 2.
“The
Palestinians have ministers, they have a cabinet, and they have a
president. They also have 104 states acknowledging their right to
statehood, even before they declare it.”
Sharon
was replying to interviewer Dan Shilon’s question about whether he
thought the establishment of a Palestinian state is inevitable, the
daily said.
Sharon
said that once “terror” ends, he is confident an agreement can be
reached with the Palestinians to end the conflict, Sharon told the
daily.
To
do so, he said, he is willing to make diplomatic concessions, but not
such that national security would be compromised.
“I
want to arrive at an arrangement with the Palestinians, because that
will be the only solution to Israel’s ailing economy,” Sharon said.
“A
diplomatic agreement that brings peace is the real answer to the
economic situation.”
Responding
to Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s call to expel Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, Sharon said the matter has been raised
several times and the security establishment decided not to take such a
step, because the harm would outweigh the good, the Post said.
It
added that Netanyahu declined to respond to Sharon’s statements.
According
to the paper, Sharon said that polls that have shown him with a hefty
lead over Netanyahu are indicators of the public’s support, but that
the November 28 primary will be the true test.
Asked
to respond to Netanyahu’s call to him to be his second in command if
he loses the race, Sharon said the question is irrelevant, because he
intends to win.
Although
he said he wants a wide coalition, Sharon revealed for the first time
that he does not intend to appoint as many ministers. “There will not
be a government of this size again; it will be much smaller,” he said.
Asked
about his age, 74, Sharon said it is not a matter of concern, the daily
said.
“If
I had any doubt that everything [in my health] is all right and holding
together as necessary, I would be doing different things,” he said.
