In
his first speech to the world body - one most Israelis view as a
bastion of anti-Israeli sentiment - Sharon also said Israel bore no
more responsibility for Gaza following the withdrawal it completed on
Monday after 38 years of occupation.
"The Palestinians will always be our neighbours. We
respect them and don't aspire to rule over them. They also deserve
freedom and a sovereign national entity in their own country," Sharon
said on Thursday, speaking in Hebrew.
But he added: "Now it is the Palestinians' turn to prove their desire for peace."
The withdrawal of Israeli troops and 8500 settlers
from Gaza is part of Sharon's plan to disengage from conflict with the
Palestinians.
Window of opportunity
Sharon
said the pullout opened a "window of opportunity" for moving along a US
backed peace "road map" that envisages creation of a Palestinian state
alongside a secure Israel.
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"The Palestinians will always be our neighbours. We respect them and don't aspire to rule over them"
Ariel Sharon,
Israeli Prime Minister |
But
he said the Palestinian Authority faced its "greatest test" and must
first, under the road map, "put an end to terror and its
infrastructure, eliminate the anarchy of armed gangs and cease
incitement" against Israel and the Jews.
Palestinian leaders said in response the only
solution was a complete Israeli withdrawal from all occupied
territories including the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, captured
by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
"The problem can only be solved by ending the occupation that began in 1967," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said.
Palestinian statehood
Erekat
also called anew on Israel to resume negotiations on Palestinian
statehood, a step Israel has ruled out until Palestinians
disarm fighters opposed to peacemaking.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who declared a
ceasefire along with Sharon in February, has avoided confronting
powerful resistance groups, citing the risk of civil war. Instead,
he wants to co-opt them into security services.
The groups have refused to disarm and threatened to
discard the truce in the face of Israel's continued expansion of much
larger settlements in the West Bank, gobbling up occupied land key to
Palestinians hopes for a state of viable size.
In his UN speech, Sharon vowed to complete
construction of a West Bank barrier that Israel calls a bulwark against
bombers and Palestinians condemn as a land grab.
Separation barrier
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Sharon defended the separation
barrier, saying it saves lives |
"This
fence saves lives," Sharon said about the razor wire-tipped fences and
towering concrete walls that snake through occupied land.
Sharon's decision to address the UN in Hebrew and
deliver the speech during prime time back home was widely seen as part
of an effort to fight off a challenge by hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu
for leadership of the Likud party.
The prime minister had particularly tough words for
the United Nations and Iran and its nuclear programme, although he did
not mention the Islamic republic by name.
Accusing the UN of passing "dozens of unjust
resolutions" against Israel over the years, Sharon said: "Even today,
delegates of a country, whose leaders call for the destruction of
Israel, sit in this body and no one protests."
"Attempts by this state to arm itself with nuclear
weapons should cause anyone who seeks peace and stability in the Middle
East and throughout the world to lose sleep," he said.
Iran says its nuclear programme is purely for peaceful purposes.