Why Sharon Is Willing To Negotiate With The PLO

DEBKAfile contains this interesting quote from Ariel Sharon in arguing in favor of accepting the "Road Map".

Maintaining three and a half million Palestinians under occupation [SIC!] is a bad thing. One and a half million are in the care of international organizations. Do we want to take over? Can we? We have to let the occupation go without compromising our national security. It is not possible for us to stay forever in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem. Fifteen years ago I decided that any effort was worthwhile – limited only by our security needs – for an accommodation that left us holding onto areas vital to our security and turned the rest over to a Palestinian state - even though I cherish every scrap of our homeland as much as anyone here. I will continue dedicate myself to that effort in the hope of a settlement that leads to peace.

In my view, Sharon sees the following options to the Palestinian problem and their likelihood:
1. Kill them -- immoral, not Jewish, not going to happen
2. Transfer them -- not going to happen, will not be accepted by the US or the "international community", could start a regional war
3. Maintain the status quo (West Bank and Gaza retained by Israel, although still disputed territories) -- intolerable to the Israeli population's moral character and morale
4. Annex the territories -- causes a long term demographic problem with millions of Palestinians becoming citizens, resident aliens, or transferred (See #2); how could Israel deny rights to so many people living in its midst

Since he believes that something must change the current situation, he has chosen the path of a two state solution.