Dov Weisglass- 12/10/2007

Dov Weisglass, (Ynetnews)

"Ariel Sharon's cabinet saw two significant diplomatic achievements with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: The "Road Map" conditioned the final-status agreement, among other things, on the reorganization of the Palestinian Authority in a way that would prevent terror as much as possible; then there was President Bush's letter to Prime Minister Sharon that set out, among other things, the American administration's position regarding two of the three issues pertaining to a final-status agreement: There will be no withdrawal to the 1967 borders, and Jewish settlement centers (the large blocs) will remain in Israeli hands; there will be no return of refugees to Israel, but rather, to a Palestinian state established according to the principles of the "Road Map."

The principle of government contiguity maintains that basic principles set out by law by one administration must be upheld by later administrations as long as they have not been altered; and modification of basic principles by a former administration must be carried out carefully and with reason, since a country's positive (or negative) diplomatic reputation is dependent on this.

From the media description of Israel's and the Palestinians' positions, it appears that these two basic principles have disappeared: Talks of a final-status agreement - on one level or another - are being conducted, despite the fact that the Palestinians themselves do not dare to make claims that the "land has quieted down." With regards to the question of borders, the position presented by the Palestinians is to continue the negotiations that were severed at Camp David. There it was proposed that Israel would hold on to five percent of the Palestinian Authority's territory - that is, only part of the large settlement blocs.

The Palestinians are demanding to set this as a "starting point" for discussion - enabling Israel to hold on to five percent or less - while the US president's letter expresses support for the Israeli position regarding continued control of all the large settlement blocs, which constitute some 10 percent of the authority's territory."

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