Establishment of Palestinian State Possible: SharonIsraeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said that Israel might accept the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, the website of an Israeli leading daily Ha'aretz reported Monday.In a statement issued Sunday evening, Sharon said that Israel wants to give the Palestinians "what no one else has heretofore given them -- the possibility of establishing a state." Sharon's statement is the strongest indication so far by a standing Likud prime minister of accepting the concept of Palestinian statehood. Sharon added in the statement that "we (Israelis) are not fighting the Palestinians, we are fighting terrorism," according to the report. Analysts regard Sharon's statement as a positive signal to the Mideast peace process, especially to the Israeli-Palestinian peace track, which was officially launched in 1993 with the signing of the Declaration of Principle on Palestinian Interim Self-Rule. Sharon, known as one of the toughest hawks against the land-for- peace policy, has consistently insisted on Israeli absolute sovereignty over the West Bank and Gaza Strip and opposed the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |