Disengaging from the West Bank?

Sources close to the prime minister suggest that, in the next two months, Ariel Sharon intends to call for a unilateral disengagement plan for the West Bank. According to the plan, isolated settlements will be removed but larger settlement blocs will be annexed to Israel, reports the weekend edition of Yedioth Aharonoth. In addition, it was suggested that US President George W. Bush plans to pardon Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, who has served over 20 years of a life sentence, as a "present" to Sharon. The West Bank disengagement plan is based on the belief that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will be unable to fulfill his responsibilities according to the Road Map: to dismantle terrorist organizations and prevent attacks in Israel. If this pessimistic prediction proves true, Sharon, say close sources, will go ahead with his "National Decision to Establish the Permanent Borders of Israel." The new borders will be based on removing isolated settlements close to Palestinian population centers while annexing large Jewish centers, and widening Israel's "thin hips." "We won't be surprised if Pollard is freed" The Americans have ignored pleas from Israeli officials and public figures who have tried for years to get Jonathan Pollard's sentence cut. In order not to hurt its ties with the U.S., Israel has declined requests by Pollard and his wife Esther to send an official envoy to the prison in which Pollard is kept. On Sunday evening, during a preparatory meeting to arrange his visit to the American presidential ranch in Texas, Sharon notified US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice that he plans to send Israel's ambassador in Washington to meet with Pollard. Rice did not respond to Sharon's decision Pollard, who had served in a sensitive post in the US Navy, passed thousands of top-secret documents to Israel. Then-U.S. Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger wrote the court deciding Pollard's fate that the spy had severely damaged U.S. national security. Those in the prime minister's circle suggest that a presidential pardon of Pollard could help mend societal rifts in Israel caused by unilateral disengagement from Gaza. If Pollard is indeed released, it will signal to the Israeli public, and especially disengagement opponents, strong American support for Sharon's historic move.

Disengaging from the West Bank?

Sources close to prime minister hint he plans additional withdrawal from West Bank, will set permanent borders of Israel; hint Bush may 'reward' Sharon by releasing Pollard