Editing Road map for peace (section)

==Israel's response and conditions==
While Palestinian Prime Minister [[Mahmoud Abbas]] accepted the Roadmap, right-wing ministers in the Israeli government opposed it.<ref name=BBC_Powell_visit/> On 12 May 2003, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] had stated that a settlement freeze, a main Road Map commitment, would be "impossible" due to the need to build new houses for settlers who start families. Prime Minister Sharon asked then-US Secretary of State, [[Colin Powell]] ''"What do you want, for a pregnant woman to have an abortion just because she is a settler?"''<ref name=BBC_Powell_visit>{{cite web|author=Paul Reynolds|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3020335.stm|title=Powell visit highlights problems|work=BBC|date=12 May 2003}}</ref> Sharon could only accept the plan with "some artful language", thus the Government accepted ''"the '''steps''' set out in the Roadmap"'', rather than the Roadmap itself.<ref name=IPS_2003_b/>

On 25 May 2003, the Prime Minister's Cabinet approved the Roadmap with 14 reservations.<ref>{{cite web|work=Haaretz|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-s-road-map-reservations-1.8935|title=Israel's road map reservations|date=27 May 2003}} {{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/process/docs/roadmap_response_eng.htm|title=Israeli Response to the Road Map on May 25, 2003}}{{dead link|date=May 2025}}</ref> These included:

# 
#* The Palestinians will dismantle the (PA's) [[Palestinian Security Services|security organizations]] and reform their structures;
#* The Palestinians must cease violence and incitement and educate for peace;
#* The Palestinians must complete the dismantling of Hamas and other militant groups and their infrastructure, and collect and destroy all illegal weapons;
#* No progress to Phase II before all above-mentioned conditions are fulfilled;
#* (Unlike the Palestinians) Israel is not obliged to cease violence and incitement against the other party, pursuant to the Roadmap.
# No progress to the next phase before complete cessation of terror, violence and incitement. No timelines for carrying out the Roadmap.
# Replacement and reform of the current leadership in the Palestinian Authority (including [[Yasser Arafat]]). Otherwise no progress to Phase II.
# The process will be monitored by the United States (not the Quartet).
# The character of the provisional Palestinian state will be determined through negotiations. The provisional state will be demilitarized, with provisional borders and "certain aspects of sovereignty", and subjected to Israeli control of the entry and exit of all persons and cargo, plus its airspace and electromagnetic spectrum (radio, television, internet, radar, etc.).
# Declaration of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, as well as the waiver of any right of return of Palestinian refugees to Israel.
# Prior to the final settlement talks in Phase III, no discussions about settlements, Jerusalem and borders would be allowed. Topics would be limited to a settlement freeze and [[Israeli outpost|illegal outpost]]s.
# No references other than the key provisions of [[United Nations Security Council resolution]]s [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 242|242]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 338|338]]. No reference to other peace initiatives (it is unclear if the [[Oslo Accords]] are included).{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}
# Withdrawal to the September 2000 lines will be conditional.
# Israel is not bound to the [[Bertini Report]] with respect to improving Palestinian humanitarian issues.

===Validity of the reservations===
The Roadmap was offered for acceptance "as it is", without room for adaptations.<ref name=IPS_2003_b>{{cite web|url=http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/5601.pdf|work=Journal of Palestine Studies XXXII, no. 4 (Summer 2003)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110173257/http://www.palestine-studies.org/files/pdf/jps/5601.pdf |archive-date=10 November 2013|title= p. 84 resp. Document E and F d.d. 23 May 2003, on pp. 96-97}}<br />
"In view of the recent statement of the United States regarding the Israeli comments on the road map, which shares the view of the Government of Israel that these are real concerns and in view of the U.S. promise to address those concerns fully and seriously in the implementation of the road map to fulfill the president’s vision of 24 June 2002, we are prepared to accept the steps set out in the road map. I intend to submit this acceptance to the Government of Israel’s approval."</ref> The Government statement of 25 May 2003, however, made clear that Israel regarded its reservations part of the Roadmap:
<blockquote>The Government of Israel affirms the Prime Minister's announcement, and resolves that all of Israel's comments, as addressed in the Administration's statement, will be implemented in full during the implementation phase of the Roadmap.<ref name=Haaretz_26.05.03>{{cite web|work=Haaretz|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/sharon-abbas-to-meet-as-cabinet-approves-road-map-1.9038|title=Sharon, Abbas to meet as cabinet approves road map|date=25 May 2003}} {{subscription required}}</ref></blockquote>
Furthermore, the Government definitively ruled out the ''right of return'':
<blockquote>The Government of Israel further clarifies that, both during and subsequent to the political process, the resolution of the issue of the refugees will not include their entry into or settlement within the State of Israel.<ref name=Haaretz_26.05.03/></blockquote>

A U.S. official, however, said that U.S. commitment did not mean that all of Israel's demands would be met. Abbas called the Israeli reservations to the map ''"not part of the map and ... not relevant to its implementation, and ... not acceptable to the Palestinians."''<ref name=Haaretz_26.05.03/>