Sharon Makes Palestinian Reforms a Condition for Talks
Mr. Sharon has repeatedly said that no peace is possible with Mr. Arafat in control, and he is anxious to bring into power what he hopes will be a more tractable Palestinian leadership. He was heckled today by Arab-Israeli legislators as he called for overhauling the Palestinian Authority. "Yeah, replace the Palestinian people," called one of the legislators, Ahmad Tibi.

The Bush administration is also pressing for Palestinian reform. Many Palestinian leaders, political scientists and average citizens have complained for years about inept or corrupt governance, generally blaming officials around Mr. Arafat rather than the paramount leader himself. With Mr. Arafat free of Israeli siege and able to travel again, some Palestinian analysts have argued that he should move quickly toward civic reform.

But Yossi Sarid, the opposition leader in the Israeli Parliament, cautioned that by making such reform his own demand, rather than a Palestinian initiative, Mr. Sharon was impeding it.

Mr. Sarid also argued that Israeli military operations and the continuing blockades of Palestinian cities made talk of reform absurd. "Is there any life in the West Bank?" he asked. "Is there any remaining system that still operates these days? The education, the sewage — nothing works there." Like Palestinian officials, he accused Mr. Sharon of mapping a route to statehood he knew could not be traveled.

Early today, Israeli soldiers killed two members of the Palestinian intelligence service during a sweep through the town of Halhoul, near Hebron. Israel said both were wanted men. Israeli forces also invaded at least two other West Bank villages, arresting at least 12 Palestinian men.

In a poll published today, the newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported that an overwhelming majority of members of Mr. Sharon's party disagreed with the decision on Sunday by the Likud's central committee to rule out creation of a Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.

Mr. Sharon has said he supports the eventual creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state, but he argues that its precise borders should be negotiated only after years of calm.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/15/international/15ISRA.html