Peres urges Gaza pullout as Israeli peace gesture

[Classical_Liberal]

Peres urges Gaza pullout as Israeli peace gesture
By Matt Spetalnick

TEL AVIV, Nov. 25 — Veteran peacemaker Shimon Peres, sceptical over Ariel Sharon's hints of unilateral steps towards the Palestinians, urged the prime minister on Tuesday to prove his sincerity with an Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.

Peres said most Israelis were unconvinced by plans being floated by Sharon to eventually dismantle some isolated Jewish settlements and summarily draw the borders of a Palestinian state if a U.S.-backed peace ''road map'' fails.
The vague initiative, dubbed the ''Sharon Plan'' by Israeli media, has triggered sharp criticism both from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Sharon's own rightist Likud party.
Peres, leader of the opposition centre-left Labour Party, said that if Sharon was serious he must back his words with actions and immediately pull troops and settlers out of Gaza. ......

http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters11-25-075307.asp?reg=MIDEAST

[BlackFrancis]

1. What are they there for?

I mean other than pissing off Palestinians Israel gets nothing out of that. I can understand water greed, religious mania, or ultra-nationalist sentiment between the iron fist on the West Bank but they don't get anything out of Gaza but headaches.

[Resistance]

2. well

according to the right-wing, it's for "self-defense"