Top > World > 2006 > February > 2006-02-12

Acting PM Lays Out Vision

Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said this week that he envisions the State of Israel giving up more territory and relinquishing control over most of the West Bank`s Palestinians while still holding on to the main Jewish settlement blocs. It was his clearest statement about how he sees Israel`s future borders, and apparently follows the plans or wishes of Ariel Sharon, incapacitated by strokes, one late last year and once again at the beginning of January. Israel under Sharon`s leadership unilaterally withdrew settlers and troops from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank last summer.

Olmert told Channel 2 TV in Israel that if his Kadima party, founded by Sharon, wins March 28 elections, Israel would hold on to the capital of Jerusalem and three major West Bank settlement blocs, along with the strategic Jordan River valley, and might move by itself if no agreement can be reached with the Palestinians, who recently elected the terrorist group Hamas to a majority of seats in the Palestinian Authority parliament.

Acting PM Olmert said Israel would retain a "united Jerusalem," a term understood as encompassing the eastern section claimed by the Palestinians for the capital of the Arab state they hope to one day create. He also cited the two biggest Jewish settlements, Maale Adumim and Ariel, as well as the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem. On Tuesday, Olmert toured construction sites of the separation barrier Israel is building in the Jerusalem area and said its completion was a top priority.