Sharon optimistic on peace prospects

HERZLIYA, Israel – Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that 2005 will be “a year of great opportunity” in which Israel will have unprecedented chances to make peace with the Palestinians and improve relations with the rest of the world.

Expressing optimism that he will realize his goal of withdrawing Israeli troops and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank beginning next summer, Sharon said he would be prepared to coordinate the pullout with the Palestinians. Speaking to the annual conference at which he announced his so-called disengagement plan last year as a unilateral move by Israel, Sharon said Thursday that “new opportunities and a potential of a new Palestinian leadership” presented a situation in which the two sides might work together.

“If that happens, we will have a genuine chance to reach an agreement and in the future, perhaps also a genuine peace,” Sharon said. “We can reach a situation where terror will stop being such a tangible threat to the well-being of the citizens of Israel. … For their part, the Palestinians can then also live in dignity and freedom in an independent state and, together with us, enjoy good neighborly relations while cooperating for the good of both our peoples.”

The Palestinians are to vote Jan. 9 to elect a successor to Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian Authority president who died last month in Paris.