JERUSALEM, Feb 21 (AFP) - The newly-approved pullout from the Gaza Strip and a small part of the West Bank is only the first of a series of "painful concessions" by Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's top advisor said Monday.
"This withdrawal is the first of the painful concessions which the prime minister has declared that he is ready to take on the Palestinian track," Dov Weisglass told a conference in Jerusalem.
"The withdrawal from the four Jewish communities in northern Samaria (the northern West Bank) which has been agreed is an important symbolic act showing that the withdrawal from Gaza is not the end of the road," he added.
The Israeli cabinet approved the evacuation of Gaza and four isolated West Bank settlements on Sunday after a marathon session, with the prime minister then signing an order for the process to begin on July 20.
Following implementation of the Gaza withdrawal, Israel and the Palestinians could "restart the peace process in accordance with the roadmap," he added, saying that at this stage, Israel was not planning any further unilateral moves.
The disengagement plan was orginally conceived as a unilateral measure, but Israel is now coordinating the pullout with the Palestinians.
Weisglass, one of the chief architects of the disengagement plan, also said that he envisaged "holding talks with the Palestinians on the definitive final status of the (occupied) territories before the end of (US President) George W. Bush's mandate" in November 2008.
But he stressed that the aim of such talks -- the creation of a Palestinian state -- would only be put on the agenda once the "thorny questions of (the status of) Jerusalem, the Palestinian refugees and the future of (West Bank) settlements" had been resolved.
Weisglass' comments marked a stark contrast with his remarks back in October when he said that the Gaza withdrawal was a deliberate attempt to undermine the roadmap's promise of Palestinian statehood and to "freeze the peace process".
Regarding the future of Gaza after the Israeli pullout, Weisglass said Israel was not seeking to isolate the territory from the rest of the world.
"If Palestinian attacks, principally the shooting of rockets, stops for good, Israel will not keep hold of the border with Egypt," he promised.
Israel has insisted on maintaining a handful of troops along Gaza's southern border with Egypt, known as the Philadephi corridor, until alternative security arrangements are put in place, notably with Egypt.
He also said Israel was considering giving the green light to a Palestinian request that they be allowed to reconstruct Gaza's international airport which was destroyed by the army during the four-year uprising, and for them to build a sea port in the territory.
Weisglass also said he believed the majority of Gaza settlers "would leave willingly when it was necessary to evacuate them on July 20 because they realise that life there is impossible".
02/21/2005 13:58 GMT - AFP