MIDDLE EAST Israeli leader relaxes his longtime hawkish stance

Some skeptics doubt Sharon is sincere.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has signaled that he is serious about the latest peace plan, declaring that Israel's occupation in the West Bank must end. His words adopted the language of his dovish opponents and shocked his hardline allies.
Sharon's remarks Monday fed into efforts to jump-start stalled Mideast peace negotiations.
Palestinian officials and Israeli sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas would meet Wednesday in Jerusalem, their second summit in two weeks. But Israeli media later reported the meeting was postponed until Thursday because of Abbas' heavy schedule.
Meeting with Bush
A three-way summit with President Bush could take place as early as next week, possibly in Jordan.
Amid withering criticism from his own Likud Party over his Cabinet's acceptance of the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, Sharon indicated a 180-degree turnaround after decades of warning that an Israeli withdrawal from even small parts of the West Bank could endanger Israel's existence.
Skeptics, however, said it was yet another master performance from a wily politician.
"To keep 3.5 million people under occupation is bad for us and them," Sharon said in remarks broadcast on Israel Radio.
The term "occupation" is anathema to the Israeli right, which believes Israel has a legitimate claim to the West Bank and Gaza Strip for religious and security reasons.
Palestinians and their dovish Israeli allies routinely use the word "occupation" when demanding that Israel leave the West Bank and Gaza and dismantle Jewish settlements.
Palestinians claim all of the West Bank and Gaza for a state.
On Sunday, Sharon's Cabinet conditionally approved the "road map," a three-phase plan that begins with a halt to violence and envisions a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2005.
Despite the Israeli conditions, including a cessation of violence and renunciation of Palestinian demands for the "right of return" of all refugees and their families to Israel, some Arab leaders were hopeful.
"We are on the verge of peace," Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said.
Sharon's assertion
Sharon told party critics that he was committed to finding a political solution to the conflict, including an Israeli withdrawal from West Bank population centers.
"This can't continue endlessly. Do you want to remain forever in Ramallah, Jenin, Nablus?" he asked.
Likud lawmakers charged that the road map was slanted in favor of the Palestinians and endangers Israel. Yuval Steinitz, a leading Likud member, said Sharon ignored the negative aspects of the plan.
In his remarks Monday, Sharon left himself an out.
"What will happen if Palestinian terror continues? Nothing. Nothing will happen. The Palestinians will get nothing," he said.
Critics have said Sharon's long-held condition that all violence must stop before peace moves is unrealistic and guarantees failure of any peace initiative.
In Gaza and the West Bank, violence continued Monday. Israeli troops killed a Palestinian teenager and another surrendered after infiltrating from Gaza, the military said. They were unarmed and apparently looking for work.
In a village near the West Bank town of Qalqiliya, an 11-year-old Palestinian boy was killed during an exchange of gunfire.
Sharon's remarks contrasted sharply with his earlier views. The hawkish ex-general once argued that giving up even 13 percent of the West Bank and Gaza would endanger Israel's security.
Some believe he has truly changed his beliefs.
"Often he says to me, 'Ten years ago I wouldn't do this or say this,"' political analyst Shimon Shiffer told Israel TV. "He reached the realization that at the age of 75, he's the man that finds himself at this intersection, that he and only he can do this."
Others were skeptical. Liberal lawmaker Yossi Sarid argued Sharon was deliberately trying to keep his intentions murky.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.