PM´s Office Rejects HaLevy Plan For PLO State

From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material)

Israel National News | 26 March 2003

Prime Minister Sharon’s office has given a cold shoulder to a new plan by National Security Council chief Ephraim HaLevy for a plan to recognize a Palestinian state in exchange for the waiving of the “Right of Return” claim.
The head of the National Security Council, former Mossad chief Ephraim HaLevy, has proposed a plan for Israel to recognize and support the establishment of a Palestinian state – provided that the Arabs waive their claim to a “Right of Return” for Arab refugees of 1948 and their descendants.
The Prime Minister’s office gave the plan a cold shoulder, saying, “We are not familiar with the plan; we haven’t seen it; it was not prepared under the auspices of the Prime Minister.” HaLevy said that this initiative would be necessary in case the American-sponsored Road Map plan fails. Sharon’s staffers said, however, that their boss is opposed to Israeli political initiatives at this time, and that Israel must work in coordination with the US administration.
Dr. Ron Breiman, Chairman of Professors for a Strong Israel (PSI), stated that a Palestinian state is dangerous, period: “Security for Israelis would be in great jeopardy if a Palestinian state would indeed be established. For decades, Arabs have been advocating Israel’s destruction… Arafat has blatantly stated that the fighting will not cease, “until the Palestinian flag is flying over Jerusalem, the capital of the Palestinian people… The very idea of creating a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River, no matter what the borders are, is absurd – because the Palestinian homeland is east of the Jordan river, known to many as the Kingdom of Jordan.”