Kadima “discloses” Sharon’s obvious border plan
The Guardian’s headline — “Israel Disclosing Detailed Border Plan” — seems jarring, considering how Ariel Sharon’s old “border plan” has been obvious for so long.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel plans to separate from most of the Palestinians in the West Bank and this would require withdrawing from some of the territory. It was the first time Olmert, who took over from ailing Ariel Sharon a month ago, has spelled out his thinking for future policy if he wins March 28 elections. The Kadima Party he inherited from Sharon, who is comatose after a stroke, is far ahead in the polls.
“We will disengage from most of the Palestinian population that lives in Judea and Samaria,” Olmert told Israel’s Channel 2 TV, using the biblical names for the West Bank. “That will obligate us to leave territories under Israeli control today.” Under questioning, Olmert listed West Bank four areas Israel would keep under his vision: Maaleh Adumim, a settlement of 30,000 next to Jerusalem; Gush Etzion, a bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem; Ariel, a settlement of 18,000 deep in the West Bank; and the Jordan River valley. Olmert did not mention the string of small settlements in the Jordan valley. Instead, he said, “It is impossible to abandon control of the eastern border of Israel.”
All that’s new is that the decades-long, single-minded creation of unchangeable “facts on the ground” has finally reached the stage of becoming official Israeli policy. Ariel Sharon may be out of politics, but his map and plan continue.
No doubt the US will let Israel have its way, especially now that they can blame Palestinians for voting for Hamas. Convenient win.