In his ongoing quest to take part in a signing ceremony prior to being booted out of office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has offered PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) 93% of Yehuda and Shomron in addition to portions of the Negev.

Seeking to outdo his predecessors, the prime minister is offering the PA most of Yehuda and Shomron, barring a number of limited “settlement blocs”, for which the PA will receive most of the area throughout Yehuda & Shomron and a portion of the Negev, including free inhibited passage between Gaza, Yehuda and Shomron.

The Olmert plan would permit Maale Adumim and Gush Etzion to remain under Israeli control, as well as some other areas. What exactly the “other areas” includes is subject to speculation at present. The plan in essence seeks to establish the ‘final status’ agreement with the PA, which would map out new permanent borders for the State of Israel.

Perhaps in a move believed to be a patriotic step, Olmert’s plan would permit free construction in the settlement blocs, which in essence will become modern-day ghettos in predominately PA-controlled areas.

Of course Olmert address the matter of compensating residents, stressing those leaving their homes voluntarily would receive preferential treatment. Those unwilling to leave on their own would be taken out in stage two of the plan.

At present, the last recipients of a government relocation plan, the Gazan Jewish community, for the most part remain displaced as they marked three years since leaving their homes.

Implementation of the master plan, which is the fruit of Olmert’s Annapolis Conference, is contingent on Abu Mazen retaking control of Gaza, which is now under Hamas control.

For his generosity, permitting Israel to retain 7% of Yehuda and Shomron, Abu Mazen would be given a portion of the Negev, the area closest to Gaza, which would then permit a direct link between Gaza and the “West Bank”, thereby enabling PA residents to travel unimpeded between the two areas, without any Israeli security checks or intervention of any kind.

Simultaneously, Israel has presented Abu Mazen and the US administration with a document detailing new security realities, a plan designed by Major-General Ido Nehushtan, now the air force commander. The plan was designed during his tenure as chief of the IDF’s Planning & Policy Division. One major point of the plan states the Palestinian state must be a demilitarized one, without an army.

In actuality, this is a moot point since today, the PA does not have an “army” but does maintain a police force with armored vehicles, automatic weapons and so-forth. The Oslo Agreement signed in 1993 also stated the PA must remain demilitarized.

While the Olmert plan does make limited provisions for “unification” of so-called “Palestinian refugees”, for the most part, it rejects PA demands for a right of return. 

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)