Olmert Nixes Idea of Complete Withdrawal From W. Bank
| Olmert to British MPs: Israel will not withdraw to indefensible pre-'67 lines | ||
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| PARIS "Israel will never agree to withdraw from the entire West Bank, because the pre-1967 borders are not defensible," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a group of British parliamentarians yesterday. Regarding
the convergence, Olmert said that his government must try to do
what its predecessors have failed to do for the past 39 years: withdraw
from a substantial portion of the West Bank and relocate many of
the settlements within the large settlement blocs. FULL STORY
at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/726479.html |
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The new Israeli plan was first revealed by Haaretz on Wednesday.
According to Erekat, the only viable option for peace is Israel's withdrawal to pre-1967 borders and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a just solution to the Palestinian refugee problem.
Olmert referred to the plan to withdraw to the route of the separation fence on Tuesday in a meeting with British parliamentarians in London. He rebuffed those whom he said term his convergence plan a 'Zionist plot' because Israel is not promising to withdraw from the entire West Bank. Even under the preferred option of negotiations and an agreement with the Palestinians, he said, Israel would not agree to withdraw from the entire West Bank, because the pre-1967 borders are not defensible.
Asked why the separation fence around Jerusalem includes some 200,000 Palestinians on the Israeli side, Olmert responded that not all of the city's Arab neighborhoods would be part of it in the future. The Jewish people, he said, have prayed toward Jerusalem three times a day for generations, but they "didn't pray toward Bir Naballah and Issawiya;" they prayed toward the Temple Mount and the Old City.