Israel's Sharon Sets Deadline

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that if the Palestinians do not make moves toward peace within a few months, Israel will begin a process of cutting itself off from the Palestinians.

Sharon was delivering a long-awaited speech at a security conference in the Tel Aviv suburb of Herzliya, where he outlined his plans for future political moves.

"We are interested in conducting direct negotiations, but do not intend to hold Israeli society hostage in the hands of the Palestinians. ... We will not wait for them indefinitely," he said.

Among the key points, says CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger: Some settlements will be moved (that is, removed) under the unilateral separation plan, if it is implemented.

Sharon has been facing intense pressure from many directions. The Palestinians have been urging the prime minister to stick to an internationally-backed peace plan, while hawkish members of his government have pledged resistance to any pullback from West Bank settlements. Those opponents include former prime minister and current finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the second-ranking member of the Likud party.

Violence continued early Thursday, as Israeli troops killed at least four Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus.

The army moved into the city's ancient bazaar quarter before dawn in a search for wanted Palestinian militants, a military spokeswoman said. Palestinian security sources said one of the dead was unarmed.

The military said one man ran toward troops with an explosive device and was shot as he approached, while in a separate incident, three masked men with automatic weapons shot at soldiers from a rooftop and were killed by return fire.

"This was a purely defensive action geared to protect the lives of Israeli citizens," said David Baker, an official in Sharon's office, calling Nablus "a hotbed of terror against Israel."

Troops also detained two would-be suicide bombers, reports Haaretz. One was arrested in Nablus and the second in the neighboring village of Assira Shimaliya.

Sharon's speech comes after weeks of buildup. Sharon began speaking of undefined "unilateral steps" last month, indicating that he might consider moving West Bank Jewish settlements while seizing control of swaths of the West Bank.

Palestinians and the United States have harshly criticized Sharon's go-it-alone concept, saying a peace settlement must be reached through negotiations.

Much of that criticism has been linked to a separation barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank.

Sharon has said the barrier is meant to keep Palestinian attackers away. But Palestinians say the partially constructed structure, which is to dip deep into the West Bank in some places, amounts to a land grab.

Palestinian and U.S. officials have called on Israel to stick to the road map.

The plan envisions an independent Palestinian state by 2005. In the interim, it requires Israel to freeze settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and calls on the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups — steps neither side has taken.

Israel has some 150 settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, with about 220,000 Jewish settlers. Settlers have also established dozens of tiny unauthorized outposts in the West Bank in recent years. Roughly 3.5 million Palestinians live in the occupied areas, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

"We are hoping the Israeli government will prepare its people for what it takes to make peace, a meaningful peace process to end the Israeli occupation," Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

Qureia has been trying to arrange a summit with Sharon since taking office in October. But the two sides have not been able to agree on an agenda.

He also has been trying to secure a commitment from militant groups to halt attacks on Israel. A truce would be seen as a key first step toward resuming peace talks.

Many Israelis also fear that Israel will lose its Jewish majority if it continues to control the West Bank and Gaza.

Housing Minister Effie Eitam, a strong advocate of the settler movement, said unilateral action would be "a great victory for terror."

"The public elected this government, a right-wing government, and if Sharon thinks he can overturn the will of the people this will not happen," Eitam told The Associated Press.

While Sharon's deputy, Ehud Olmert, has come out in favor of unilateral action, other senior members within the ruling Likud Party, including Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, say a one-sided pullback would invite more violence.