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Israel Must Control Jordan Valley: Sharon
Israel's Likud prime ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon said Wednesday that the Jordan Valley is so vital to Israel's security that Israel must control it in the future.
Sharon made the remarks in his election campaign in the Jordan Valley when he addressed the Israeli residents there .
Meanwhile, Sharon promised to the local residents that if he is elected, he will not dismantle a single Jewish settlement in the territories.
Israel set up over 140 Jewish settlements across the West Bank after the 1967 Middle East war, housing nearly 200,000 settlers.
The settlement is one of the key issues in the Israeli- Palestinian peace talks, and Sharon did not say how he will solve this problem with the Palestinians if he becomes the prime minister.
Sharon also criticized caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak, his rival for the prime ministerial elections due to be held on February 6, for his intention to hand over part of the Dead Sea to the Palestinians in a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Former Israeli President Ezer Weizman, a vehement supporter of Barak in the May 1999 elections, said Wednesday that he has decided to support Sharon for running the prime minister.
Weizman told reporters in Tel Aviv that he was so disappointed by Barak, but refused to give more detail about the withdrawal of his support for Barak.
When asked for his reasons for backing Sharon, Weizman said that "because the country needs some order."
Weizman met with Sharon on Tuesday at his home in Caesarea, northern Israel, and informed Sharon that he would indeed back him, but would not join his campaign team.
Weizman resigned last summer for poor health and other reasons such as the police investigation of taking bribery.
Barak also intensified his campaign Tuesday by shifting the focus of his campaign away from the talks of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians to blaming Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the stalemate in the peace process.
He told a gathering in Tel Aviv that the peace talks with the Palestinians have been halted while the government focused its attention on cracking down the terrorists.
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