Israel secretly studies 'bold' peace bid
Would surrender large tracts of West Bank
10-year peace part of plan, source says
Nov. 16, 2006. 06:22 AM
MITCH POTTER
MIDDLE EAST BUREAU
JERUSALEMBedevilled by the continuing scourge of homemade Qassam
rocket attacks, Israeli officials are believed to be exploring a
new diplomatic overture that calls for the surrender of large
swathes of the West Bank to a new Palestinian leadership in
exchange for a decade-long ceasefire.
The plan, still in the formative stages, was outlined yesterday in
the Hebrew daily Ma'ariv as a "bold and original" initiative that
would enable the creation of a provisional Palestinian state as a
first step toward normalization with Palestinians and the wider
Arab world.
Israeli President Ehud Olmert secretly presented the concept to
President George W. Bush during a meeting at the White House
Monday, the Ma'ariv report said, citing unnamed political sources
in Washington and Jerusalem.
Palestinian and Israeli officials refused comment on the
initiative, which Ma'ariv described as "consensual realignment" a
term that implies Israel now is willing to involve Palestinians in
a negotiated withdrawal from parts of the West Bank, where more
than 250,000 Jewish settlers live on land conquered by Israel
during the 1967 Six Day War.
But Ghassan Khatib, a senior Palestinian political figure, told the
Toronto Star that diplomats working beneath the radar have begun
"an exchange of views about the potential of moving forward on the
basis of a long-term ceasefire of 10 or even 15 years."
Leaders of the militant Hamas movement have for many years spoken
of such a long-term hudna, or ceasefire, but only on the condition
of a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines
terms deemed unacceptable to the Israeli leadership.
But as domestic and international pressure mounts for a renewal of
regional diplomacy, Israeli officials now are re-examining whether
a ceasefire can be struck on the basis of the more limited West
Bank withdrawal the Olmert government was elected to enact.
"The big difference now is that Hamas is in power. And some of the
Israeli officials who are examining this idea are realizing that
what the Hamas offers in terms for a 10- or 15-year ceasefire is
really not very different from what the (internationally brokered
peace plan) Roadmap describes in its interim phase it is just
another name for a Palestinian state with provisional borders,"
said Khatib, who served under the previous Palestinian Authority
government as labour minister.
"There is an exchange of views happening because some people
believe there is potential here."
But impediments stand in the way, not least the continuing salvo of
crude Palestinian Qassam rockets, 14 of which rained down yesterday
on the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon, killing a 57-year-old
Israeli civilian and severely wounding two others, including an
off-duty bodyguard of Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz.
It was the worst single-day toll in nearly a year from the wayward
Qassam, which normally falls harmlessly in open areas. The militant
wings of at least three Palestinian factions claimed
responsibility, with the Popular Resistance Committees calling the
attacks "a response to the Israeli massacres and bombardments in
the Gaza Strip."
Olmert, who was in California yesterday attending an annual
assembly of major Jewish organizations in North America, has
repeatedly spoken of a willingness to meet at "any place, any time"
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, widely viewed as the moderate
half of the Palestinian leadership. Abbas, in Cairo yesterday
speaking to Arab representatives about ways to revive the peace
process, responded in kind, vowing he is ready to meet
Olmert.
But Israeli and Palestinian officials admit no such meeting is
likely before the successful outcome of negotiations on the issues
of a prisoner exchange and the launch of a new Palestinian
government on terms that would end the international funding
boycott of the current Hamas-led regime.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the talks are "at an
advanced stage but more work needs to be done."
"As Palestinians, our obligations are clear: we must address the
need to create a Palestinian government that is part of the
international community, one that will accept the previous
commitments we have made and a government that must provide for
mutual cessation of any kind of violence," Erekat told The
Star.
"But it seems to me Israel needs also to step forward. It is not
just about singing about peace to score points and show a good
image to the United States or France or Canada," he said.
"They must realize the difference between dictation and
negotiation. Do they want Jewish settlements or do they want peace?
They cannot have both because the parallels don't match."