Apparently on the initiative of
Israel, the Bush administration began to float the idea of a roadmap, a detailed and interlocked schedule of conditions
and events that would break the Palestinian-Israeli impasse, end the violence and lead to a peace settlement. The
outlines of this idea were contained in a
speech given by President Bush in 2002. The
Israeli government had in mind a specific set of idea, but as the roadmap took shape, it changed its character. The US
undertook the roadmap as a joint US and European initiative. Representatives from the European Union, the United
Nations, and Russia formed a group known as the "The
Quartet," which began to shape international policy toward
resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Quartet issued a statement below regarding a road map for
peace on September 17, 2002 that has since undergone several revisions. The program is an outline that is evolving over
time. Palestinians and Israelis have greeted each version with various reservations. At present writing there is
evidence of the beginnings of Palestinian compliance with roadmap provision, in the choice of a Prime Minister, but no
evidence except promises from Ariel Sharon that Israel is going to go along with the plan. In October, President
Bush issued his version of a more detailed roadmap,
based on Israeli and Palestinian input.
Following the Iraq war in the
spring of 2003, pressure mounted on the USA to release a new version of the Roadmap for Palestinian-Israeli and Arab
peace, as decided by the Quartet. The US insisted that the roadmap must be accepted as is. Israel asked for specific
changes in the roadmap. The document was not published for quite some time, despite the pressure of the EU and the
British. Under pressure from Israel, Americans insisted they would not release the document until the Palestinians had
chosen and installed in office a Prime Minister, to begin the work of reform.
The official text of the latest version of the roadmap
was announced on April 30 2003, and published with the date of May 1, following the elections of Mahmud Abbas (Abu
Mazen) as PM of the Palestinian Authority. Abu Mazen pledged to end terror and chaos and to work for a negotiated peace.
The Palestinian Authority accepted
the roadmap, but so far has not implemented key provisions such as combating terror effectively (May 2005). The Israeli
government accepted the roadmap, but with the fourteen reservations below, and has likewise not implemented key
undertakings of its own for Phase I, especially the freeze on settlement activity and removal of illegal outposts
(detailed in the Sasson Report on illegal
outposts).
This introduction is
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Israel's Response to the Road Map
May 25, 2003
Both at the commencement of and during the process, and as a condition to its continuance, calm will be maintained.
The Palestinians will dismantle the existing security organizations and implement security reforms during the course of
which new organizations will be formed and act to combat terror, violence and incitement (incitement must cease
immediately and the Palestinian Authority must educate for peace). These organizations will engage in genuine prevention
of terror and violence through arrests, interrogations, prevention and the enforcement of the legal groundwork for
investigations, prosecution and punishment. In the first phase of the plan and as a condition for progress to the second
phase, the Palestinians will complete the dismantling of terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular
Front, the Democratic Front Al-Aqsa Brigades and other apparatuses) and their infrastructure, collection of all illegal
weapons and their transfer to a third party for the sake of being removed from the area and destroyed, cessation of
weapons smuggling and weapons production inside the Palestinian Authority, activation of the full prevention apparatus
and cessation of incitement. There will be no progress to the second phase without the fulfillment of all
above-mentioned conditions relating to the war against terror. The security plans to be implemented are the Tenet and
Zinni plans. [As in the other mutual frameworks, the Roadmap will not state that Israel must cease violence and
incitement against the Palestinians].
Full performance will be a condition for progress between phases and for progress within phases. The first condition
for progress will be the complete cessation of terror, violence and incitement. Progress between phases will come only
following the full implementation of the preceding phase. Attention will be paid not to timelines, but to performance
benchmarks. (Timelines will serve only as reference points).
The emergence of a new and different leadership in the Palestinian Authority within the framework of governmental
reform: The formation of a new leadership constitutes a condition for progress to the second phase of the plan. In this
framework, elections will be conducted for the Palestinian Legislative Council following coordination with Israel.
The Monitoring mechanism will be under American management. The chief verification activity will concentrate upon
the creation of another Palestinian entity and progress in the civil reform process within the Palestinian Authority.
Verification will be performed exclusively on a professional basis and per issue (economic, legal, financial) without
the existence of a combined or unified mechanism. Substantive decisions will remain in the hands of both parties.
The character of the provisional Palestinian state will be determined through negotiations between the Palestinian
Authority and Israel. The provisional state will have provisional borders and certain aspects of sovereignty, be fully
demilitarized with no military forces, but only with police and internal security forces of limited scope and armaments,
be without the authority to undertake defense alliances or military cooperation, and Israeli control over the entry and
exit of all persons and cargo, as well as of its air space and electromagnetic spectrum.
In connection to both the introductory statements and the final settlement, declared references must be made to
Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state and to the waiver of any right of return for Palestinian refugees to the State
of Israel.
End of the process will lead to the end of all claims and not only the end of the conflict.
The future settlement will be reached through agreement and direct negotiations between the two parties, in
accordance with the vision outlined by President Bush in his 24 June address.
There will be no involvement with issues pertaining to the final settlement. Among issues not to be discussed:
settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (excluding a settlement freeze and illegal outposts), the status of the
Palestinian Authority and its institutions in Jerusalem, and all other matters whose substance relates to the final
settlement.
The removal of references other than 242 and 338 (1397, the Saudi Initiative and the Arab Initiative adopted in
Beirut). A settlement based upon the Roadmap will be an autonomous settlement that derives its validity therefrom. The
only possible reference should be to Resolutions 242 and 338, and then only as an outline for the conduct of future
negotiations on a permanent settlement.
Promotion of the reform process in the Palestinian Authority: A transitional Palestinian constitution will be
composed, a Palestinian legal infrastructure will be constructed and cooperation with Israel in this field will be
renewed. In the economic sphere: International efforts to rehabilitate the Palestinian economy will continue. In the
financial sphere: The American-Israeli-Palestinian agreement will be implemented in full as a condition for the
continued transfer of tax revenues.
The deployment of IDF forces along the September 2000 lines will be subject to the stipulation of Article 4
(absolute quiet) and will be carried out in keeping with changes to be required by the nature of the new circumstances
and needs created thereby. Emphasis will be placed on the division of responsibilities and civilian authority as in
September 2000, and not on the position of forces on the ground at that time.
Subject to security conditions, Israel will work to restore Palestinian life to normal: promote the economic
situation, cultivation of commercial connections, encouragement and assistance for the activities of recognized
humanitarian agencies. No reference will be made to the Bertini Report as a binding source document within the framework
of the humanitarian issue.
Arab states will assist the process through the condemnation of terrorist activity. No link will be established
between the Palestinian track and other tracks (Syrian-Lebanese).