JERUSALEM — Defending himself against right-wing attack, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today he endorsed a peace plan recognizing the Palestinians' right to a state because continuing to rule them is "bad for us and them."
"This can't continue endlessly," he told angry lawmakers from his Likud Party a day after his Cabinet conditionally approved the U.S.-backed "road map" for Mideast peace. The plan envisages a Palestinian state by 2005.
The 12-7 Cabinet vote, with four abstentions, marked a sea change in policy, especially for conservatives in Sharon's Likud for whom Palestinian statehood has been anathema.
For decades, Sharon was Israel's most prominent hawk, arguing that a Palestinian state would pose a mortal danger and pushing for Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to thwart future land concessions to the Palestinians.
Today, he found himself in the unfamiliar position of defending his peace efforts, and was heckled by Likud legislators who reminded him of his prior opposition to concessions.
"To keep 3.5 million people under occupation is bad for us and them," he said of Israel's 36-year presence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. "I want to say clearly that I have come to the conclusion that we have to reach a (peace) agreement."
Officials began preparing for a meeting between Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, which Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said today could come within 48 hours.
That meeting could pave the way for a three-way summit with President Bush, expected to take place next week.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, speaking before a meeting of European and Middle Eastern foreign ministers on the Greek island of Crete, said the summit would likely be in Jordan and called it "a positive move in the right direction."
The "road map" is a three-year, three-phase blueprint for ending violence and establishing a full Palestinian state next to Israel.
Sharon's government gave its conditional approval to the plan, adding demands that the Palestinians have rejected up to now. Palestinians, who already accepted the plan, charged that Sharon was not sincere and insisted the "road map" be implemented unchanged.
Israeli commentators were divided over whether the acceptance of the road map was simply a tactical move, aimed at avoiding confrontation with the United States, or whether the prime minister has had a change of heart on how to solve the conflict with the Palestinians.
The vote came after a flurry of weekend diplomacy. The United States said Israel's concerns about the plan would be taken seriously, and on that basis, Sharon said Israel would accept the contents of the plan, forcing his reluctant Cabinet's hand.
The process of bending Israel's will was expected to refurbish the U.S. image in the Arab world, where Washington has been seen as Israel's champion.
Shalom said the Cabinet decision "was as difficult as crossing the Red Sea." Sharon faced down the opposition of two of his coalition partners, whose four ministers voted against, along with three ministers from his own Likud Party. Four abstained.
Approval of the plan was carefully worded to allow Israel to wriggle out of some of the road map measures toughest for Sharon's government to accept.
The Cabinet statement said "Israel agrees to accept the steps defined in the road map," not the plan itself. A senior Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, indicated that this left Israel in position to demand that Palestinians must first crack down on violent groups, instead of the plan's call for parallel Israeli and Palestinian steps.
Sharon aide Raanan Gissin said Israel would make no moves or statements of intent until the Palestinians "show progress on the ground" toward stopping terror attacks. The road map plan begins with statements from each side renouncing violence and recognizing each other's right to a state.
Palestinian Cabinet Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said he feared the vote was just a ploy. "The vague acceptance of the road map, including the Israeli reservations . . . proves once again that the Israeli government will place obstacles and conditions in the way of implementation," he said.
Also, the Israeli Cabinet said the Palestinians must abandon their demand for the right of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, about 4 million people altogether, to return to their original homes in Israel.
Palestinian official Nabil Abu Rdeneh rejected that. "We will not accept anything that is not mentioned in the road map," he said. The refugee issue is to be negotiated in the final stage.
Past peace initiatives have come unraveled in squabbling over just such details.
This peace initiative is also incredibly fragile, Israel TV political reporter Keren Neubach said. "One suicide bombing could bring down the whole process," she said.
The Islamic militant group Hamas reiterated Sunday it opposed the plan, saying it was meant to trick the militias into disarming.
An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded Monday when a Palestinian gunman attacked an army post in the Gaza Strip before fleeing, the army said. Militants from the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, associated with Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility, calling it "our response to the road map hell."
In the West Bank, the army destroyed the houses of two suicide bombers in the city of Hebron who blew themselves up in Jerusalem last week. Troops also arrested 11 suspected Palestinian militants, the army said.