Olmert Moves Closer to West Bank Withdrawals
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
April 29, 2006 6:12AM EST

By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
April 28, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert moved a step closer to realizing his "convergence" plan -- a unilateral evacuation of Israelis from some communities in the West Bank -- when he signed a coalition agreement between his Kadima Party and the Labor Party on Thursday night.

Olmert, whose Kadima party won 29 out of 120 seats in the Knesset elections last month, must now form a coalition government. The Pensioner's Party, which won a surprising seven seats, joined Kadima's parliamentary bloc, and the agreement with Labor now puts Olmert just short of the 60-seat minimum he needs to have a majority in the Knesset.

Other parties reportedly are about to join his coalition.

As part of his election campaign, Olmert pledged to set Israel's permanent borders by 2010 -- the end of his four-year term in office -- with or without input from the Palestinians. That concept has now been formalized in the coalition agreement, making it part of the new government's guidelines.

The government will work "to shape the permanent borders of the state as a Jewish state with a democratic majority," the agreement says, according to Ha'aretz. "The territory of the Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria" (the West Bank) will be "reduced."

The new government said it will work to set the borders "through negotiation and agreement with the Palestinians on the basis of mutual recognition, previously-signed agreements, the principles outlined in the road map, an end to violence and the disarmament of the terror organizations."

The Quartet peacemaking group - the U.S., European Union, United Nations and Russia -- has set three benchmarks for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and for financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority, now led by Hamas.

The Hamas-led P.A. so far has refused to meet those standards, which include recognizing Israel, renouncing terrorism and abiding by previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

Olmert has said he will give the P.A. just six months to a year to agree to carry out its obligation before begins implementing unilateral moves.

Olmert's plan includes finishing a security barrier, which juts in and out of the West Bank, dismantling Israeli communities on the other side; and strengthening several large settlement blocs on the Israeli side of the fence.

The barrier would become Israel's de facto border. However, Olmert has indicated that he may not withdraw the army from the other side of the barrier for security reasons, unlike former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral disengagement plan last summer, when Israel left the Gaza Strip completely.

"If the Palestinians do not act in accordance with these conditions in the near term, the government will also take action in the absence of negotiations and an agreement with them, on the basis of a broad national agreement within Israel and a deep understanding with Israel's friends abroad, chief among them the United States and President George W. Bush."

Press reports said Olmert will head to Washington the fourth week of May for talks with President Bush and congressional leaders.

An Israel government official said that no date had yet been confirmed but the trip would probably take place next month.

If so, it would be Olmert's first trip abroad as prime minister. He is expected to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat as well as his "convergence" plan.

International support is vital to Olmert's plan, just as it was for Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan when all Jewish communities in the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank - about 9,000 Israelis in all -- were uprooted last summer.

Sharon had pledged not to carry out any further unilateral withdrawals.

But following his massive stroke in January, Olmert changed tack. He admitted as much, citing mitigating circumstances such as the election of a Hamas-led P.A., and said he was sure that Sharon would have done the same.

It is not clear how many Israelis would be removed from their homes as a result of his unilateral plan but some reports have said that it would be as many as 70,000 Israelis uprooted from their communities.