Palestinian prime minister answers Israel with call for one state

JERUSALEM - The Palestinian premier said Thursday that if Israel unilaterally imposed a new boundary with Palestinian areas he would push for a single Arab-Jewish state - a move that could spell disaster for Israel.

A single country including Gaza, the West Bank and Israel would mean that the Jewish state would soon have an Arab majority. That would force Israel to choose between giving Palestinians the right to vote and risk losing the country's Jewish character, or becoming a minority-ruled country like apartheid South Africa.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned at the end of last year he would order unilateral separation from the Palestinian areas if peace talks do not show progress in the coming months.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said such unilateral moves would make the drive for a Palestinian state a "meaningless slogan."

"If the situation continues as it is now we will go for the one-state solution," he said.

Qureia said the binational state is his own idea, not official policy.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell immediately rejected the idea of a single state on Thursday, saying only a two-country solution to the violence would work.

About 3.5-million Palestinians live in the West Bank and Gaza, in addition to 1.2-million Arab citizens of Israel. About 5.5-million Jews live in Israel.

The past decade of Israel-Palestinian peace efforts has always been based on a two-state solution. The latest peace plan - the U.S.-backed "road map" - leads to a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza by 2005. Abandoning that concept could throw Mideast politics into turmoil.

Sharon has said that if peace talks do not show progress in the coming months, he will order "unilateral disengagement." This would entail imposing a temporary boundary in the West Bank and removing some Jewish settlements from areas to be evacuated.

Sharon has said his plan is meant to improve Israel's security.

JERUSALEM - The number of Israelis killed in violence with Palestinians dropped more than 50 percent in 2003 from the previous year, the government said.

According to the government figures, 213 Israelis, including 163 civilians, were killed by Palestinian militants last year. That compared with 451 deaths the previous year. The figures said attacks on Israeli targets dropped nearly 30 percent, from 5,301 to 3,838.

JERUSALEM - Two senior Israeli Cabinet ministers said Thursday that Israel had a unique opportunity to restart peace efforts with Syria and should not ignore a recent overture from Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The call by Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came amid reports that military officials were pressuring the government to respond positively to Assad.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright