HERZLIYA, ISRAEL Palestinians dismiss Ariel Sharon's ultimatum

Sharon warned that the Palestinians had only a few months to make peace.
HERZLIYA, Israel (AP) -- The United States warned Israel against imposing a solution if peace efforts remain stalled, and the Palestinians called Ariel Sharon's ultimatum unacceptable.
Jewish West Bank settlers, also reacting swiftly to the plan Sharon unveiled Thursday, said the prime minister's idea of moving some settlements was an illusion.
Sharon warned in a speech in this Tel Aviv suburb that the Palestinians had only a few months to make peace or Israel would take unilateral steps to separate itself from Palestinian areas.
Sharon said Israel remained committed to a U.S.-backed road map peace plan. But he demanded Palestinians begin dismantling militant groups, as called for by the plan, or face an Israeli-imposed security border. The road map envisions a Palestinian state by 2005.
The United States, which has criticized Sharon for considering one-sided measures, advised Israel not to try to dictate terms of a settlement.
"We would oppose any unilateral steps that block the road toward negotiations under the road map," said Scott McClellan, White House press secretary. "The United States believes that a settlement must be negotiated and we would oppose any effort -- any Israeli effort -- to impose a settlement."
Palestinian anger
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia called for negotiations and bristled at Sharon's threats.
"These are ultimately dangerous words, and this type of talk is simply not acceptable," Qureia told The Associated Press. Qureia is trying to end violence by negotiating with militant Palestinian groups, insisting he will not confront the militants with force.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath charged that peace was not Sharon's objective.
"This is not a prescription for peace. This is a prescription for more war and more attacks and more isolation and more segregation against the Palestinian people," Shaath said.
Sharon told a security conference that "we are interested in conducting direct negotiations but do not intend to hold Israeli society hostage in the hands of the Palestinians. ... We will not wait for them indefinitely.
"If there is no progress toward peace in a matter of months, then Israel will initiate the unilateral security step of disengagement from the Palestinians."
'Disengagement plan'
Under the "disengagement plan," Israel would redeploy its army and relocate some settlements to create a more easily defended security boundary and to reduce the number of Israelis in Palestinian areas, Sharon said. Israel has some 150 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, with about 220,000 Jewish settlers. Roughly 3.5 million Palestinians live in the occupied areas.
West Bank settlers called Sharon's speech a "plan of illusions that will escalate terror."
"The dismantling of settlements and expulsion of Jews from their homes will only increase the appetite of the murderers and will bring about the destruction of Zionism," said settler spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef.
Effie Eitam of the pro-settlement National Religious Party threatened to leave Sharon's government. "We will not be part of a government that uproots Jewish communities and will defame the entire Zionist enterprise," Eitam said.
On the other side of the Israeli political spectrum, Labor Party leader Shimon Peres said "in the speech we heard, there is nothing new."