A very welcome statement by Shimon Peres. He is one of the few moderate Israeli leaders that is willing to establish a permanent peaceful settlement with the Palestinians.
Peres: Israel Has No Claim to West Bank](http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/ap/ap_story.html/Intl/AP.V7668.AP-US-Mideast.html) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 24 Feb 04
WASHINGTON (AP)–**Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in turning over control of much of the West Bank to Yasser Arafat’s Palestinians, said Monday that Israel has no moral claim to the land or to Gaza and must give up every inch of the territories. **
Peres, in a speech after meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, said time is short''--no more than four months--for Israel to come to terms with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. The opening is not for a long time,‘’ he said at a dinner sponsored by the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation, a dovish private group.
**While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has proposed a withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank, Peres said the offer of his long-term political foe was inadequate and would only perpetuate conflict with the Palestinians. Israel must give up all of the land that it captured in the 1967 Middle East war, he said. ``If you keep 10 percent of the land you keep 100 percent of the conflict,‘’ Peres said. **
His prescription for a pullback includes gradual withdrawal from the West Bank after Israel gives up all of Gaza to the Palestinians. It is not a political decision, it is a moral decision,'' Peres said. He said Israel should provide the Palestinians with a state that is viable and contiguous. I think Sharon is having a hard time making up his mind,‘’ Peres said. It won't be simple. It won't be easy.'' If Israel does not follow through with a total withdrawal, catastrophe is waiting in the corner,‘’ he said. …