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April 15, 2005
Sharon requests support
Poll shows most Americans back disengagement plan.
KATHARINE HAMER
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with American Jewish leaders
in Washington Wednesday, in a bid to garner support for Israel's
disengagement plan.
A poll released on Monday showed that American Jews supported the
plan for Israeli settlers to leave 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip
and four in the West Bank by a margin of nearly three to one. The
survey of more than 500 community members, conducted for the Zionist
organization Ameinu last week, also showed that a large percentage
believe Israel should leave most other West Bank settlements in
order to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
"At this moment of renewed hope, American Jews stand squarely
with Israel as it prepares to take great risks for peace,"
said Ameinu president Kenneth Bob. "Like the vast majority
of Israelis, American Jews overwhelmingly support disengagement
from Gaza and part of the West Bank and see this as the first of
many steps toward a lasting peace with two states, Israel and Palestine,
living side-by-side."
In a meeting with Sharon at his Crawford, Tex., ranch on Monday,
U.S. President George W. Bush praised Israel for its initiative
and warned against any expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
"I told the prime minister of my concern that Israel not undertake
any activity that contravenes road map obligations or prejudices
final status negotiations [in the peace process]," said Bush.
While seeking U.S. backing, Sharon also said that, "Only after
the Palestinians fulfil their obligations, primarily a real war
against terrorism and the dismantling of the infrastructure, can
we proceed toward negotiations based on the road map."
"It is imperative that disengagement be the first step in a
broader peace process, not the last," said Deborah DeLee, president
of U.S.-based Zionist group Americans for Peace Now.
"When settlers are removed from Gaza and the West Bank later
this year, it will hopefully mark the beginning of the end of Israel's
long occupation of the Palestinians and the renewal of a peace process
that can deliver a viable two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Absent such a solution, Israel will not have a future
as a Jewish, democratic state," she said.
Not everyone agreed with such views. MK Benny Elon was also in the
United States this week, lobbying against the disengagement plan.
"Disengagement from our land is an anti-Jewish concept and
we won't sit by quietly and allow it," said Elon, chair of
the Moledet party, which has seven seats in the Knesset. "I
will be meeting with senators and congressmen, Jewish and Christian
leaders and leading financial supporters who understand quite clearly
the need for Israel to stand strong and not surrender to Arab terrorism."
Meantime, under the banner, "A Two-State Solution is No Solution,"
a group of people aligned with the organization Unity for Israel
staged a protest in Crawford, claiming that support for the disengagement
plan represented inconsistencies in the United States' so-called
"war on terror."
A press release issued by Unity for Israel on Tuesday said, "We
are not rewarding the insurgents in Iraq with statehood. Why then
do we depart from our principles and opt to bestow the precious
gift of statehood upon Palestinian terrorists?"
– With files from Reuters
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