Israel secretly studies 'bold' peace bidWould 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
JERUSALEM—Bedevilled 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."