Mid-East press on Sharon speech

While the Arab press was unimpressed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's ultimatum to the Palestinians to make progress on peace talks or face a unilateral separation of territories, several Israeli commentators noted that he had made a significant political shift.

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[Sharon's speech] contained nothing new and failed to clarify his vague previous statements on unilateral measures because it focused on the separation wall and the need to speed up its construction. His call for the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table is nothing but repetition.

Al-Quds - Palestinian territories

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[Sharon's speech] reiterates the Israeli government's policy which is based on ignoring the Palestinian partner politically and on its complete freedom to redeploy its forces at will for security considerations.

Al-Ayyam commentator Rajab Abu Siriah - Palestinian territories

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Sharon's threat is not a sign of power and strength, but rather a sign of weakness which also reflects the psychology of a man in crisis.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi - London

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Yesterday Sharon made an important, significant step to dismantle his life project. Despite the ambiguity, despite the laundered words, this is not a trifling step ... he parted with what is his true legacy: the settlements.

Yedi'ot Aharonot commentator Nahum Barnea - Israel

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[Sharon] adopted the ideology and slogans of the far left he mounted the horse of 'unilateral disengagement' and is riding toward the sunset. There is certainly no new dawn here. The Palestinian plan to break the spirit of Israeli society has failed, Sharon said. But it seems that whoever thinks the Arabs are succeeding in breaking the prime minister's spirit is not wrong.

Yedi'ot Aharonot commentary by National Union deputy Aryeh Eldad - Israel

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This was an empty speech and in the middle of this total void, a little mouse is running around. He bumps into the walls and squeaks in pain, and this poor little mouse is us.

Yedi'ot Aharonot commentary by Meretz deputy Yossi Sarid - Israel

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In his speech Sharon gave a third prize to terrorism. The first prize was when he declared that there would be no negotiations as long as terror continued The second prize was pushing [Palestinian Prime Minister] Abu Ala and [former Palestinian Prime Minister] Abu Mazin into Hamas's arms... In yesterday's speech, Sharon told the Palestinians: if there is terror there will be no negotiations. This was the third prize.

Ma'ariv commentator Yossi Beilin - Israel

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Yesterday Sharon began a move that is liable to be important and historic and it will be such even if in the end he avoids implementing it and leaves it to his successor. The prime minister ended his speech and left before tasting the third course. But he also knows that the proof of the pudding is in eating it.

Ma'ariv commentator Dan Margalit - Israel

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A new thesis has emerged from the depths of the leadership's despair - partition without agreement. We get up one morning, destroy tens of settlements in Yesha [West Bank and Gaza] and transfer tens of thousands of Jewish children and adults and we then escape and hide behind the electronic fence. And while we're on the run, we'll pray that the enemy will understand that we fled because we won.

Ma'ariv commentary by West Bank and Gaza Strip Council Chairman Bentzi Liberman - Israel

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The minute he [Sharon] really and truly decides to go all the way and evacuate Gaza, and move dozens of cancerous settlements from the West Bank, he'll lose part of his party and part of the right, but an absolute majority of Israeli citizens will be with him.

Ha'aretz news analyst Yossi Verter - Israel

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It doesn't matter what Sharon said last night and how nicely he said it. It's his actions that will talk.

Ha'aretz commentator Yoel Marcus - Israel

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.