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Peres Wants Some Jewish Settlements Evacuated - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum Peres Wants Some Jewish Settlements Evacuated
Reuters
November 2, 2001Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said in an interview published Friday that Israel should evacuate some Jewish settlements and conduct peace talks with the Palestinians even as violence rages.
Peres's remarks contrast sharply with the views of his coalition government partner, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. They were published by the Maariv newspaper before Peres's expected meeting with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Spain this weekend.
Peres was asked whether he would evacuate some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where Palestinians are waging a 13-month-old uprising against occupation.
"Yes, and I would not be doing the Palestinians a favor. There are several settlements which are drawing fire and have no future," he replied.
Peres did not specify which settlements he would empty.
"Sharon thinks every settlement is important. I think the map of settlements makes things difficult for Israel and prevents it from drawing a map of security and peace," Peres said.
The Jewish settlements were built on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War and are regarded as illegal by the international community. Palestinians have often targeted them in their uprising aimed at establishing an independent state.
Sharon has also made a renewal of peace talks conditional on an end to the uprising which flared in September 2000.
"If I was prime minister, we would be in a much better position," Peres told Maariv. "I would conduct peace talks under fire ... because you can't stop the fire with fire alone."
Despite right-wing criticism, Sharon has given his approval for Peres to travel to an economic conference on the Spanish island of Majorca set for Friday and Saturday.
Peres has said he would not negotiate with Arafat, but would meet him. They were due to participate in a panel discussion at the conference Saturday.
The two architects of interim Israeli-Palestinian peace deals last met on September 26 to reaffirm a U.S.-backed truce-to-talks plan which has not taken hold.
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