Dramatic shift seen in Israel's Position

[DRB]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6501871

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon signaled that he is dropping what was once his key demand for resuming peace talks — a Palestinian crackdown on militant groups.

Sharon said in a speech Thursday that while he still wants the armed groups dismantled, any crackdown would be “complicated.” He said he now considers Palestinian efforts to stop incitement against Israel as a sufficient sign of goodwill.

[fluff]

That's good. Israel must realise that even a representative Palestinain Authority would find it nigh on impossible to clamp down on all and every hardline militant who wishes to disrupt any negotiation or progress towards peace. A similar relaisation had to be made for the UK govt to negotiate with Sinn Fein.

[Changleen]

Wow that is a pretty good sign if they're serious.

[ohio]

Wow.

That would be great (IMO) if true. The Israeli hard-liners must be ready to lynch Sharon though...

I bet he's doing it just to defile Arafat's memory... trying to prove that all that stood in the way of peace was Arafat (something I half agree with... the other half was Sharon).

[DRB]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/11/22/mideast/index.html

"The first priority is the Palestinian elections which will hopefully bring about a Palestinian leadership with whom we can sit down and address all the issues on our agenda," Shalom said.

"These elections are an internal Palestinian matter, but I have reassured the secretary today that Israel will do everything in its power to ensure their smooth running."