Ex-Security Chiefs in Israel Push for Truce: " Four former Israeli security chiefs sharply criticized Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies toward the Palestinians on Friday, warning that Israel is headed for catastrophe if it does not reach a peace deal soon"


The group of former Shin Bet leaders said that for its own survival Israel needs to withdraw from the West Bank and Gaza Strip even if leads to a clash with some of the 220,000 Jewish settlers who live there.

They said Sharon's preoccupation with trying to halt attacks by Palestinians before agreeing to peace talks is at best misguided, and at worst a ploy to avoid concessions.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat praised the former security chiefs. ``It reflects the realistic policy required from the Israeli side,'' he said.

Sharon's aides declined comment.

With peace efforts stalled, a number of former and current officials have questioned Israel's direction in the conflict, and several have come up with alternate plans of their own.

The Shin Bet chiefs discussed a peace proposal written by Ayalon and Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh that envisions a Palestinian state in virtually all the areas Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war