Sharon Accepts Roadmap With U.S. Promise To …

Sharon reluctantly accepted the so-called peace Roadmap Friday after Washington publicly assured him that the United States would take into account a list of Israeli objections.

But the peace plan could easily hit new snags before the two sides even take the first step toward implementation.

Islamic militants, who already have carried out six bombings this week, including one on Friday, might step up attacks and provoke harsh Israeli reprisals.

Two far-right factions in Sharon’s coalition government could bolt in protest, although their departure could then open the way for Sharon to rebuild his former partnership with the Labor party – leaving him stronger than ever by increasing his majority in parliament.

In the Israeli Cabinet meeting, expected Sunday or Monday, the strongest criticism is expected to be voiced by ministers from the National Religious Party and the National Union, who together hold four of 23 Cabinet posts.

National Religious Party leader Effie Eitam said Friday he would vote against the Roadmap, while Uri Stern, leader of the National Union, indicated that he would do the same, Israel Radio reported Saturday.

Hard-liners in Sharon’s own Likud party also are skeptical. Uzi Landau, a Likud minister, said the map in its current form is a "recipe for terror," while senior Likud member and former Cabinet minister Gideon Saar on Saturday called the road map "the most dangerous Middle East plan that was ever presented."

"When a government in Israel, certainly one headed by the Likud, accepts obligations included in this plan, this will be a precedent," Saar told Israel Radio. "We will inflict grave damage on ourselves if we accept this plan."

However, Sharon adviser Raanan Gissin and Tommy Lapid, leader of the moderate Shinui party, Sharon’s main coalition partner, said Friday they expected the Cabinet to approve the plan.

"It is possible that there will be argument, but in the end, it (the Roadmap) will be accepted," Lapid said.

The Bush administration sent seemingly conflicting messages Friday in order to break the diplomatic deadlock. Alongside the promise to Israel came a pledge to the Palestinians that there would be no changes in the road map.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Ziad Abu Amr said the Palestinians had not voiced their misgivings when accepting the plan because they were eager to move forward. "If the U.S. administration assures Israel that it will take into account its reservations, the same treatment should be extended to the Palestinian side," he said, declining to elaborate.

While Sharon has set aside his objections for now, he has not withdrawn them. Disputes with the Palestinians could resurface in the first stage of the plan, when the Palestinians are to rein in militants and Israel is to withdraw from Palestinian towns and freeze Jewish settlement construction.

Israel has said in the past that it would only make a move after the Palestinians crack down on militias that have killed hundreds of Israelis since the September 2000 outbreak of renewed hostilities; the Roadmap calls for simultaneous steps.

Gissin suggested Friday that Israel’s position remains unchanged. "There is a preliminary stage that must be accomplished … that is steps to stop terrorism, to stop the incitement," Gissin told CNN. "We must take those steps if we are to enter the gateway to the Roadmap to peace."

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas wants to use persuasion, not force, to get the militants to halt attacks. In a first step, he met with Hamas leaders this week, but failed to extract any promises.

The U.S. announcement did not specify which of the Israeli concerns Washington was willing to address. Israel also has demanded that the Palestinians drop a demand for the "right of return" of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to former homes in what is now Israel. The peace plan says the fate of the refugees is to be discussed only in the third stage, when the terms of Palestinian statehood will be negotiated.

The Roadmap calls for uprooting small Jewish settlement outposts established since March 2001, but also implies that many other settlements will have to be removed as part of a peace deal.

Even if the pro-settler National Union and National Religious Party bolt, Sharon can expect support from dovish opposition parties, including Labor and Meretz. Labor might even be tempted to rejoin Sharon’s coalition, which it left last year in a dispute over settlement funding.

Bush, meanwhile, is considering a three-way meeting with Sharon and Abbas in Egypt to prod them into implementing the Roadmap. However, the meeting would only occur if both sides take steps toward peace in the coming days, a senior Bush administration official said on condition of anonymity.

On Saturday, the Israeli military continued its strikes against suspected militants, raiding the Tulkarem refugee camp in the West Bank, making arrests and occupying a number of houses, witnesses said. The troops arrived in dozens of tanks, armored personnel carriers and two helicopters, the witnesses said.

The army said it had been operating with border police forces overnight to dismantle terrorist operations and arrest members of the militant Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations who use the camp as a hideout.