Slow going for Powell's road map

In the West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian gunmen killed an Israeli motorist. Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday and sealed the territory. At the same time, Israel released a total of 140 Palestinians from army and civilian prisons, but Palestinian officials say they were all within 12 days of completing their sentences. Israel also resumed security contacts with Palestinian officials over the weekend.

During Powell's visit, Sharon refrained from using the phrase "road map," saying instead that "Israel sincerely wishes to advance President Bush's June 24 speech." The speech last year calls for a Palestinian state, but not a viable one, and it lacks the timetable and reciprocity built into the road map.

Sharon has repeatedly insisted the Bush speech is not only in accordance with, but also a basis for, his own ideas, as outlined in a speech he gave in February. That is known as the "Herzliya address" and it is conceptually at loggerheads with the road map in that it demands very little from Israel, and comes very late in process. Analysts believe the address is the clearest outline of Sharon's views on how to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.

According to the Herzliya speech, the first stage of peacemaking must unilaterally be "a complete cessation of terrorism" and "a change of Palestinian administration." Sharon specifies that there must be no timetable built into the peacemaking plans "since this will generate tremendous pressure upon Israel each time a deadline approaches."

In what is billed as a concession, Sharon says Israel will not reoccupy Palestinian areas it relinquished in the Oslo Agreement.

There is no settlement freeze in the Herzliya address and no pathway toward discussing the final status issues of the dispute as defined in the Oslo Agreement: Jewish settlements, refugees, Jerusalem, water. It also specifies that "easing of military pressure" by Israel and concessions to make life easier for Palestinians can only take place after the "cessation of terrorism" and "change in administration."

In a second stage, Israel would be ready to allow a Palestinian state with provisional borders in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with Israel controlling all crossings into and from the state and its airspace.

"Sharon's agenda is the Herzliya speech and he is arguing that it is a more accurate interpretation of what Bush thinks than the road map," says Akiva Eldar, a columnist for Ha'aretz.

Still, Powell told reporters he had found some give in Sharon's position. In the past, the Israeli leader insisted to him there had to be complete calm on the Palestinian side before there could be any progress. But now, Powell said, "I haven't heard the Israelis talk of total calm. They are saying they are looking for a lot of effort and intent" by the new Palestinian government.

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