Israel Gives Peace Plan Six Months

Israel will coordinate any unilateral moves in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with the United States, the Israeli foreign minister said Tuesday, after meeting with Bush administration officials who oppose any actions that will make it harder to create a Palestinian state.

"Unilateral moves" are decisions it makes without the agreement of the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is to announce in a major policy speech later this week that he will take unilateral steps if there is no progress on the U.S.-led "road map" peace plan within six months, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Israel Tuesday banned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from Christmas celebrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem for the third straight year. Palestinian officials had requested that Arafat — who has been confined to the nearby city of Ramallah since late 2001 — be allowed to take part in the festivities in Jesus' traditional birthplace.

Egyptian mediators arrived Tuesday in the Gaza Strip for another attempt at brokering a Palestinian cease-fire with Israel, but Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, said Israel wasn't interested, reported Haaretz newspaper.

Israel is not "willing to be party to a truce between the Palestinian Authority and the terrorist groups," Mofaz said, adding that Israel "demands an end to terrorism" and a return to the bargaining table to discuss the "road map" peace plan.

The government of Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and the militant factions disagree not only on the terms of a truce, but also on possible power-sharing.

Qureia, backed by Egyptian mediators, seeks a commitment by the militants to stop all attacks against Israelis. Hamas and Islamic Jihad insisted Israel must meet a series of demands, including ending military operations.

Progress in the talks might lead to a summit between Sharon and Qureia.

The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service has warned that Jewish militants arrested for plotting to bomb a Palestinian school also had a dream of blowing up the mosques on the site the Jews call the Temple Mount, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger. Those mosques in Jerusalem's Old City mark the third holiest site in Islam.

"Such plans should keep us awake at night," said Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter.

In new violence, Israeli troops shot a 15-year-old boy in the head, critically wounding him, in the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank, Palestinian hospital officials said.

Soldiers opened fire after a group of youths began throwing rocks at them, the sources said, adding that the boy, Noor-Eddine Emran, had been on his way to visit an aunt. Four other youths, including Noor-Eddin's twin brother, were lightly wounded, they said. The army was investigating.

Sharon has talked of unilateral moves in recent weeks if peace efforts fail. Those moves would include the completion of a West Bank separation barrier that swallows up large chunks of the land the Palestinians seek for their state, as well as the dismantling of some Jewish settlements, said Israeli reports, citing legislators whom Sharon briefed on his plans in recent days.

Sharon mentioned two Gaza settlements — Netzarim and Morag — as already being marked for evacuation, the Haaretz daily reported. Some 7,000 Israeli settlers live in Gaza, which is home to 1.3 million Palestinians.

Sharon will stop short of annexing parts of the West Bank, to avoid further angering the United States.

Assaf Shariv, a Sharon spokesman, denied the prime minister gave legislators names of settlements marked for evacuation. Shariv also said reports of a six-month deadline were "not accurate."

Last week, President Bush said that "Israel must be mindful ... that they don't make decisions that make it hard to create a Palestinian state."

Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met on Monday in Washington with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. Israel Radio said the U.S. officials urged Israel to refrain from unilateral moves.