[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 16 (Monday, April 19, 2004)]
[Pages 598-600]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel on the Israeli 
Disengagement Plan

April 14, 2004

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

    Thank you for your letter setting out your disengagement plan.
    The United States remains hopeful and determined to find a way 
forward toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. I remain 
committed to my June 24, 2002 vision of two states living side by side 
in peace and security as the key to peace, and to the roadmap as the 
route to get there.
    We welcome the disengagement plan you have prepared, under which 
Israel would withdraw certain military installations and all settlements 
from Gaza, and withdraw certain military installations and settlements 
in the West Bank. These steps described in the plan will mark real 
progress toward realizing my June 24, 2002 vision, and make a real 
contribution towards peace. We also understand that, in this context, 
Israel believes it is important to bring new opportunities to the Negev 
and the Galilee. We are hopeful that steps pursuant to this plan, 
consistent with my vision, will remind all states and parties of their 
own obligations under the roadmap.

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    The United States appreciates the risks such an undertaking 
represents. I therefore want to reassure you on several points.
    First, the United States remains committed to my vision and to its 
implementation as described in the roadmap. The United States will do 
its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan. 
Under the roadmap, Palestinians must undertake an immediate cessation of 
armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere, and 
all official Palestinian institutions must end incitement against 
Israel. The Palestinian leadership must act decisively against terror, 
including sustained, targeted, and effective operations to stop 
terrorism and dismantle terrorist capabilities and infrastructure. 
Palestinians must undertake a comprehensive and fundamental political 
reform that includes a strong parliamentary democracy and an empowered 
prime minister.
    Second, there will be no security for Israelis or Palestinians until 
they and all states, in the region and beyond, join together to fight 
terrorism and dismantle terrorist organizations. The United States 
reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel's security, including 
secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel's 
capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or 
possible combination of threats.
    Third, Israel will retain its right to defend itself against 
terrorism, including to take actions against terrorist organizations. 
The United States will lead efforts, working together with Jordan, 
Egypt, and others in the international community, to build the capacity 
and will of Palestinian institutions to fight terrorism, dismantle 
terrorist organizations, and prevent the areas from which Israel has 
withdrawn from posing a threat that would have to be addressed by any 
other means. The United States understands that after Israel withdraws 
from Gaza and/or parts of the West Bank, and pending agreements on other 
arrangements, existing arrangements regarding control of airspace, 
territorial waters, and land passages of the West Bank and Gaza will 
continue.
    The United States is strongly committed to Israel's security and 
well-being as a Jewish state. It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair, 
and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue 
as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the 
establishment of a Palestinian state, and the settling of Palestinian 
refugees there, rather than in Israel.
    As part of a final peace settlement, Israel must have secure and 
recognized borders, which should emerge from negotiations between the 
parties in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242 and 338. In light of new 
realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli 
populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of 
final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the 
armistice lines of 1949, and all previous efforts to negotiate a two-
state solution have reached the same conclusion. It is realistic to 
expect that any final status agreement will only be achieved on the 
basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities.
    I know that, as you state in your letter, you are aware that certain 
responsibilities face the State of Israel. Among these, your government 
has stated that the barrier being erected by Israel should be a security 
rather than political barrier, should be temporary rather than 
permanent, and therefore not prejudice any final status issues including 
final borders, and its route should take into account, consistent with 
security needs, its impact on Palestinians not engaged in terrorist 
activities.
    As you know, the United States supports the establishment of a 
Palestinian state that is viable, contiguous, sovereign, and 
independent, so that the Palestinian people can build their own future 
in accordance with my vision set forth in June 2002 and with the path 
set forth in the roadmap. The United States will join with others in the 
international community to foster the development of democratic 
political institutions and new leadership committed to those 
institutions, the reconstruction of civic institutions, the growth of a 
free and prosperous economy, and the building of capable security 
institutions dedicated to maintaining law and order and dismantling 
terrorist organizations.
    A peace settlement negotiated between Israelis and Palestinians 
would be a great boon not only to those peoples but to the

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peoples of the entire region. Accordingly, the United States believes 
that all states in the region have special responsibilities: to support 
the building of the institutions of a Palestinian state; to fight 
terrorism, and cut off all forms of assistance to individuals and groups 
engaged in terrorism; and to begin now to move toward more normal 
relations with the State of Israel. These actions would be true 
contributions to building peace in the region.
    Mr. Prime Minister, you have described a bold and historic 
initiative that can make an important contribution to peace. I commend 
your efforts and your courageous decision which I support. As a close 
friend and ally, the United States intends to work closely with you to 
help make it a success.
     Sincerely,
                                                George W. Bush

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this letter. The letter was made available by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on April 14 but was not issued as a White House press release. 
The Office of the Press Secretary also made available the text of Prime 
Minister Sharon's letter to the President.