SPIEGEL:

With his decision to leave Likud, the party he was instrumental in founding, and to run for office in new elections with a new party, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has fundamentally changed Israel's political landscape. Was this dramatic step truly necessary?

Weisglass: It was unavoidable. Sharon would not have been able to move forward in the peace process with Likud's current direction. Because half the members of his party were taking positions diametrically opposed to those of the prime minister, the Gaza withdrawal was only possible with votes from the opposition.

SPIEGEL: And now Sharon is bringing his own camp, the political right, to power. He himself is steering more toward the center, despite his previous reputation as a hardliner.

Weisglass: I see this differently. A portion of the party drifted toward the extreme right. Sharon, however, never left the political mainstream Likud represented for so many years. After all, the first Likud prime minister, Menachem Begin, wasn't on the extreme right. On the contrary -- he wanted to establish a majority movement. Shortly after taking office in 1977, Begin signed the historic peace treaty with Egypt.

SPIEGEL: Does Sharon now intend to emulate Begin -- and make history?

Weisglass: He wants what every Israeli prime minister has wanted -- to end the conflict with the Palestinians, bring about peace and provide people with a normal, quiet life.

SPIEGEL: Sharon's new party is called Kadima, Hebrew for "Forward." How does Sharon intend to bring about progress?

Weisglass: Our approach is the international peace plan, the Roadmap, which consists of three phases. The first includes the complete cessation of violence and terror. Once this is achieved in its entirety, a provisional Palestinian state will be established within the current borders of the Autonomous Territories. Only then will negotiations begin over the central issues of the conflict: borders, the settlements, the fate of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.

SPIEGEL: Do you plan to clear additional settlements to accelerate the peace process?

Weisglass: The prime minister has made it clear that the West Bank and Gaza are two completely different matters. No Israeli who wants to be taken seriously has ever believed that we could control the Gaza Strip in the long term. It's a different story in the West Bank. Territorial changes will only take place there within the framework of negotiations over the final status.

SPIEGEL: No additional settlements will be cleared without negotiations?

Weisglass: Any further unilateral steps would mean the end of the Roadmap. After all, the soul of this peace plan lies in bilateral negotiations.

SPIEGEL: Why didn't this apply to the withdrawal from Gaza?

Weisglass: The clearing of the settlements there was completely separate from the Roadmap. The Gaza withdrawal was based on an agreement with the Americans, who made it clear to us that there will be no progress as long as the Palestinians do not clamp down against terrorists and destroy their infrastructure. This principle was revolutionary for us.

SPIEGEL: So as a reward for the Gaza withdrawal, you are now permitted to hold on to a large number of settlements in the West Bank?

Weisglass: There is an understanding with Washington over continued Israeli control over large groups of Jewish settlements, as well as the assurance that no Palestinian refugees will return to Israel, but rather to a future Palestinian state. This is stated in a letter from US President George W. Bush to Prime Minister Sharon.

Taking further unilateral steps would signify that we want nothing to do with the Palestinians, that there is no one there with whom we believe we can negotiate. This was true when (former Palestinian Authority President) Yasser Arafat was still in control and we decided to implement the Gaza Plan. At that time, we truly had no one with whom to negotiate -- no partner.

SPIEGEL: And now you do?

Weisglass: Yes, now we have a partner. Of course, we would like to see a more assertive Palestinian leadership. But we have never rejected President Mahmoud Abbas.

SPIEGEL: Do you hold Abbas in high regard?

Weisglass: We know him very well and we have a good working relationship with him. He is a decent Palestinian statesman. We feel that his political philosophy and his view of the key security issues are very positive. He recognizes the dangers of terrorism and he understands just how damaging the violence is, especially to the Palestinians. He is well-intentioned and in this respect he is completely different from Arafat, who we felt was the greatest obstacle to any progress at all. The problem, however, is the gap between Abbas's good intentions and his actual deeds.

SPIEGEL: What is he doing wrong?

Weisglass: We believe that he could do a lot more. He has the backing of the majority of the Palestinian people, and they are fed up with the old lies, the chaos and the dominance of armed gangs. Besides, he enjoys the support of the international community, including the Americans.

SPIEGEL: What will you do if the extremist Hamas organization becomes part of a Palestinian government?

Weisglass: If Hamas continues to exist as an armed organization and joins the government, the Palestinians will have to bear the full consequences.

SPIEGEL: And what would they be?

Weisglass: Why should we get ourselves caught up in pessimistic scenarios here? The Palestinians have promised us and the international community that they will be in a better position to take action against the armed groups after the elections. They say that a newly legitimized parliament will enact laws to keep any militant organization out of the government. And they also promise that they will then begin disarming these groups.

SPIEGEL: Isn't Gaza a test case to determine whether the Palestinians can rule themselves and establish calm and order?

Weisglass: It was also important to provide the Palestinians with a contiguous territory that they alone control, without Israel's intervention.

SPIEGEL: But the Gaza project can only succeed if Israel also grants the Palestinians freedom of movement. Why have you blocked the opening of the border crossing in Rafah for so long?

Weisglass: I don't want to sound arrogant, but sometimes I have the feeling that we have to help the Palestinians help themselves. I certainly understand that opening the border crossing to Egypt is an important national symbol for the Palestinians. But this border crossing is also very important from a security standpoint.

SPIEGEL: Meanwhile, you have bowed to pressure from US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and opened Rafah.

Weisglass: Our negotiations with the Palestinians had come to a standstill. Ms. Rice was gracious enough to devote some of her valuable time during a visit here to help us find a solution. When it was clear that all we needed were a few hours to achieve a breakthrough in the negotiations, she even postponed her departure.

SPIEGEL: How will the Rafah border crossing be monitored?

Weisglass: Israel will have no presence there -- just Palestinians and Egyptians. But we do have security cameras that allow us to monitor the situation. The European Union, which has proven to be highly constructive on this issue, will play a monitoring role.

SPIEGEL: What exactly are the Europeans doing?

Weisglass: The EU plays an active role. European police officials will instruct the Palestinians on who they should detain. Their job is to ensure that no terrorists are allowed into the Gaza Strip. If the Palestinians fail to adequately check a suspicious person, the Europeans will ask them to do so. After all, terrorists are under pressure worldwide and are looking for new quarters. We must prevent Gaza from becoming the next capital of global terror.

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan