Israel Is Allegedly Intent on Freezing Peace Process

One of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s closest aides suggested in remarks published Wednesday that the Israeli government hopes to put Palestinian aspirations for statehood on hold indefinitely after withdrawing troops and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip next year.

The comments by Dov Weisglass, Sharon’s main liaison with the Bush administration, seemed to contradict Israel’s official position supporting the U.S.-backed peace plan. The initiative, known as the “road map,” is a step-by-step plan for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Weisglass, who until recently served as Sharon’s chief of staff, told the daily newspaper Haaretz that a primary goal of the prime minister’s plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip by the end of 2005 “is the freezing of the peace process.”

“It supplies the formaldehyde necessary so there is no political process with the Palestinians,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. “When you freeze the process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

The remarks appeared to catch U.S. diplomats by surprise. After the interview was published, Sharon’s office issued a terse statement reaffirming Israel’s commitment to the peace plan, which a U.S. Embassy spokesman said reflected the American understanding of Israel’s position. The official did not comment directly on what Weisglass had said.

Weisglass told Israel Radio that the excerpts published by Haaretz, which will run the full interview Friday, had truncated his remarks.

The former chief of staff insisted that he had meant only that a return to negotiations was currently impossible because of “a Palestinian administration that has no control and no ability to prevent terror.”

But Weisglass also suggested, as Sharon has done in recent weeks, that the peace plan -- which calls for a series of reciprocal concessions by Israel and the Palestinians -- was moribund.

“At the moment, the road map is a plan that exists on paper; it is a plan in theory and is completely not upheld by the Palestinians,” he said in the radio interview. “You can call this death, you can call it a deep coma or freeze. I won’t compete with you in what to call it.”

Israeli leftists, who support Sharon’s Gaza pullout plan, reacted with dismay to the comments.

“We need a [peace] process, because even if we leave Gaza unilaterally and evacuate the settlements, problems with the Palestinians will continue,” said Labor Party lawmaker Yuli Tamir. “The time has come for the prime minister to consider the long-term future.”

Palestinians have generally welcomed the idea of an Israeli pullout from Gaza but fear that it will set the stage for an Israeli annexation of large chunks of the West Bank. Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, said Weisglass had “revealed the true intention of Sharon,” which he said was to undermine the peace plan.

Israeli political analysts said Weisglass’ remarks -- taken together with an ongoing Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 80 Palestinians -- probably were intended to placate Sharon’s rightist critics. In addition, they noted that the comments came as U.S. attention was diverted in the final month of a hard-fought American presidential race.

In the northern Gaza Strip, clashes flared anew in the Jabaliya refugee camp as the Israeli takeover of the densely populated area entered its second week. At least three Palestinians were killed Wednesday: a father and son who died when Israeli tanks fired shells toward the camp, and a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead as he stood on his balcony, Palestinian hospital officials said.

In the northeastern section of the camp, residents edged along a battle-damaged street, mindful of an Israeli tank a few hundred yards away. Those who lingered drew warning shouts from neighbors. As daylight faded, the air snapped with machine-gun fire and carried the pinging sound of bullets.

Those living in the camp said their daily routines had been severely curtailed by the fighting.

“It has paralyzed our life. There’s no work, no school, nothing; we can’t go out anywhere,” said a 50-year-old man who gave his name as Abu Ala. He said he and his family had fled their home and were staying with relatives in a section of the camp less affected by the clashes.

The violence also spilled over into central Gaza, where three Palestinian gunmen infiltrated the isolated Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom and engaged in a firefight with Israeli troops. A Thai worker in one of the settlement greenhouses was killed, together with the three gunmen.

The radical group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Defiant members of the group’s military wing also held a news conference inside Jabaliya, the second in recent days, and warned that Israeli troops would “sink into a quagmire” if they pushed deeper into the camp.

There were signs that Israel might be preparing to wrap up the offensive, with military officials saying they have succeeded in limiting the ability of Palestinian militants to fire Kassam rockets at Israeli border towns. But the officials acknowledged that they had not been able to halt the attacks altogether.

Israel has been facing growing international criticism over the operation, in which more than 2,000 Israeli troops and about 200 armored vehicles have entered northern Gaza. On Tuesday, a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the incursion was vetoed by the United States, which objected to the fact that the measure did not mention attacks by Palestinians.

Israel launched the offensive after two Israeli children, ages 2 and 4, were killed by a rocket attack last week in the Negev desert town of Sderot.

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Times staff writer Ken Ellingwood in the Jabaliya refugee camp contributed to this report.