JERUSALEM - The Palestinians are not doing enough to prevent attacks on Israel and would have to intensify their efforts before the peace process can be revived, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says
Sharon's comments came ahead of a Mid-East summit with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday where both sides were expected to sign an agreement to end more than four years of violence.
In a telephone conversation Friday with Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik, Sharon said Israel was working to build support for Abbas, also known, but was not seeing any concessions in return, according to a statement released by Sharon's office.
On Thursday, the government approved the release of 900 Palestinian prisoners and agreed to withdraw troops from the West Bank town of Jericho.
'Israel taking steps to assist Abbas'
The gestures came after Palestinian security forces were deployed throughout the Gaza Strip to prevent militant attacks on Israeli targets.
"Prime Minister Sharon told his (Norwegian) counterpart that Israel is taking these steps in order to assist Abbas, but the Palestinian side has so far done nothing apart from deploying forces in the Gaza Strip, without taking substantive steps to fight terror," The statement said.
Israeli officials say Sharon wants to implement his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip this summer before opening up peace talks, and Sharon said Friday that the Palestinians have to take more substantive steps against violence before the road map can be revived.
"The prime minister stressed that getting into the road map will happen only after the Palestinians halt terrorist activity, dismantle the (terror) infrastructures and carry out governmental reforms," The statement said.
Security officials have meanwhile criticized the government’s hard-line approach on the prisoner-release issue.
“It was a mistake to reject the Palestinian Authority chairman’s personal request to free three senior terrorists jailed prior to the (1993) Oslo Accords,” a senior IDF officer told Army Radio.
Abbas would have “applauded us” had Israel released the three, the officer said.
“The principle of not releasing prisoners with ‘blood on their hands’ is not sanctified and should be changed,” he said.
IDF Chieff criticized
The prisoner-release issue has also sparked disagreements between the army and the General Security Service. IDF Chief-of-Staff Moshe Yaalon said Israel should consider releasing Palestinian murderers, while GSS Chief Avi Dichter rejected the idea out of hand.
The recent comments by the two senior security officials stem from the fact both men will be completing their term soon, Sharon associates say.
“Nothing the chief-of-staff says at this time surprises us,” a source close to Sharon told Ynet. “The prisoner issue is an entirely political question, and certainly not a security or military matter.”