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June 17, 2002
JERUSALEM -- Israeli bulldozers began work Sunday on a controversial project to erect a fence and sophisticated security system along the length of the West Bank in an attempt to seal off the Palestinian-controlled territory from Israel.
The idea, which has been discussed for years, has come under fire from Israelis and Palestinians for a variety of political, religious, economic and social reasons. But it has drawn many new advocates, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and gained wider popularity in recent months after suicide bombings that have killed dozens of Israeli citizens and terrorized urban areas across the country.
Also Sunday, Sharon told his Cabinet ministers that "the conditions are not ripe" for establishment of any kind of Palestinian state, according to a statement released after the meeting.
Sharon's remark came as President Bush is preparing a new Mideast peace initiative, which aides have said might be unveiled this week. A key component of the plan being considered is declaring a provisional or interim Palestinian state, pending further negotiation and implementation of various reforms in the Palestinian Authority. While Sharon has previously supported the eventual creation of a Palestinian state, his comments Sunday appeared to reject establishing one soon as part of a renewed peace effort.
The idea of a provisional state also has drawn fire from Palestinians, who want definite timetables for negotiations and implementation of agreements creating a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem. Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its capital.
Israeli officials say they hope the proposed security fence separating the West Bank from Israel will be as effective in curbing suicide bombers as the security around Gaza has been in blocking such attacks from that region. There have been about 70 suicide bombings in the last 20 months, and almost all have been traced to the West Bank, which lies along a porous border with Israel.
But some Israeli critics say the proposed fence would effectively formalize, and possibly finalize, Israel's borders, giving up the country's claim to parts of the West Bank, and leaving as many as 200,000 Jewish settlers on the Palestinian side.