JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel’s next cabinet has committed itself to leaving parts of the West Bank in order to redraw the borders of the Jewish state, following on the heels of last year’s unilateral pullout from Gaza.

A coalition deal signed by prime minister designate Ehud Olmert’s Kadima party and the centre-left Labour after weeks of fraught talks has enshrined his priority to separate from the Palestinians with or without their agreement.

The draft programme of the new administration, widely quoted in the Israeli media on Friday, vowed “to shape the permanent borders of the state as a Jewish state with a democratic majority”.

“Israel’s territories, whose borders will be determined by the government, will entail reducing the areas of Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).”

Olmert made the March 28 election a de facto referendum on his determination to fix the permanent borders of Israel during his four-year term of office.

Labour, like all potential coalition partners, has had to accept the outline of his plan that could see around 70,000 Jews uprooted from the occupied West Bank but the largest settlement blocs built on Arab territory retained.

The government’s draft pledged to work to shape the borders “through negotiation” with the Palestinians on the basis of mutual recognition, signed agreements, an end to violence and the disarmament of armed factions.

Should the Palestinians not measure up, however, Israel would be compelled to take action on the basis of a “national agreement” and consent with foreign allies, chiefly Washington, it said.
news.yahoo.com

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