Israel's Sharon Under Pressure

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was preparing a much-anticipated speech Thursday in which he was expected to explain his ideas about unilateral Israeli moves in the West Bank if peace talks fail.

Sharon will reiterate his commitment to the U.S.-backed road map peace plan, reports CBS News Correspondent Robert Berger, but he'll call for unilateral steps if the diplomatic process fails. Those steps include drawing a de facto border along the route of Israel's West Bank security barrier, and dismantling some settlements in the process. Some West Bank land would be annexed.

Haaretz newspaper reports that Sharon intends to give Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia six months to prove his commitment to an agreement with Israel.

Sharon faces intense pressure from many directions. The Palestinians are urging the prime minister to stick to an internationally-backed peace plan, while hawkish members of his government pledge 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.

Most attention, however, was focused on the prime minister, who was to address a security conference in Herzliya, a suburb of Tel Aviv, Thursday evening.

Sharon will reiterate Israel's commitment to the internationally-backed "road map" peace plan, an Israeli official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon will discuss what plans and programs he will implement to move the diplomatic process forward.

The 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.

Sharon has said he would he would take such actions only if there is no progress in peace talks with the Palestinians. He has said such moves would not be as generous as a negotiated settlement, but indicated that they would still involve painful concessions to ensure Israel's security.

Channel 10 TV reported that Sharon would send his speech to Washington before delivery. A spokesman for Sharon refused to comment.

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.

Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinians would be watching "very closely" Thursday night. He urged Sharon to honor the road map.

"When I hear the word unilateral ... it insinuates bad things — building settlements, facts on the ground, home demolitions, deportations," Erekat said.

"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," he 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.

Sharon faces considerable international and domestic pressure to end three years of fighting with the Palestinians.

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.