Israel: Gaza settlers could be moved to West Bank
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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
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CNN's John Vause has more on the problems of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon from a bribery scandal to a possible evacuation of Gaza settlements.
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel is considering relocating Jewish settlers from 17 Gaza settlements to the West Bank, an Israeli government spokesman said Friday.
The official said the relocations -- which would come under a plan to evacuate all formally established Jewish settlements in Gaza -- is one option among several under consideration.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Friday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will seek the Bush administration's approval to expand some West Bank settlements for settlers facing relocation from Gaza. Sharon has an upcoming trip to Washington.
A government spokesman said the newspaper report was "speculation, and we do not engage in speculation."
Reaction from the Palestinian Authority was critical of the possible move.
"Any attempts by Israel to trade off the settlements in the Gaza Strip to expand the settlements in the West Bank will destroy all the peace efforts and kill the 'road map,' " said chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat, referring to the peace plan backed by the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia.
"The settlements in the West Bank are illegal as the settlements in Gaza and continue to be an obstacle to peace."
The road map aims to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and establish an independent Palestinian state by 2005.
Sharon, who has been a longtime backer of the settler movement, stunned his supporters Monday when he said he had told the government to begin plans for the evacuation of all Jewish settlements in Gaza.
"It is my intention to carry out an evacuation -- sorry, a relocation -- of settlements that cause us problems and of places that we will not hold onto anyway in a final settlement [with the Palestinians], like the Gaza settlements," Sharon said.
The announcement of Sharon's plan provoked threats from right-wing members of his coalition government to quit. However, some opposition Labor Party lawmakers said they would have to support Sharon if he goes ahead with the plan.
Sharon has said he is willing to negotiate -- with reservations -- with the Palestinians under the terms of the U.S.-backed plan.
In recent months, Sharon also has said Israel will take actions unilaterally to separate Israelis from the West Bank and Gaza if the Palestinians don't move to end violence and come to the negotiating table.
The unilateral plan calls for the completion of a separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank, a move that Palestinians have called a land grab into their territory.
Gaza already is separated from Israel by a fence, but Israeli troops remain in the area to guard Jewish settlements. Removing the settlements would mean no Israelis would be left for the military to protect.
