Blair insists on negotiations

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert meets with British counterpart in London, says: We are ready to withdraw from most of the West Bank

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3262039,00.html

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"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert presented his diplomatic plan regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a visit to London Monday.

During the conference, Olmert told his British counterpart that Israel "was prepared to pull out from most of the occupied territories for the formation of a Palestinian state."

"We will have to move forward ... To separate from the Palestinians, pull out from areas of the West Bank amd realign Israelis in other parts of Israel in order to leave a very large contiguous territory for a state to be formed by the Palestinians," he said."

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"Blair stressed his insistence on a negotiated settlement and insisted such an agreement could be reached.

"If you can get negotiations underway, a solution is possible," Blair said. "The three conditions are laid down for Israel to begin
negotiations on a final settlement." The conditions, posed by Israel and the international community to the Palestinians, include Israel's right to exist, Hamas' renunciation of violence and adherence to the road map."

Israel will keep the main settlement blocks, the Jordan Valley, Jerusalem, the resources of the
West Bank, & make a contiguous Palestinian state an impossibility.

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"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel will never agree to pull out of all of the West Bank because the borders that existed before Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Six-Day War could not be defended.

Speaking to lawmakers at Britain's Parliament, Olmert expanded on remarks he made at a London news conference on Monday, in which he said Israel's planned withdrawal from the West Bank would encompass 90 percent of the territory, leaving the remaining 10 percent subject to negotiation.

But Tuesday he made clear that such negotiations could only go so far.

"We'll never agree to pull out of all of the territories, because the borders of 1967 are indefensible," he said."

more

· Leaders speak after Downing Street meeting
· Negotiated settlement 'only way forward'

Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor
Tuesday June 13, 2006
The Guardian

Tony Blair refused yesterday to endorse publicly the plan by the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, for a partial withdrawal from the West Bank.

In his first meeting with Mr Blair since succeeding Ariel Sharon, Mr Olmert outlined his proposal for the closure of some of the more remote Jewish settlements in the West Bank while annexing three major settlement blocs. The Israeli prime minister told a Downing Street press conference that the proposed unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank, following on from the pullout from Gaza last year, was "generous" and would leave the Palestinians with 90% of the West Bank.

Mr Blair insisted the only way forward for Israel was not unilateral action but to embark on negotiations with the Palestinians to end the conflict. "I do not want to go down any other path than a negotiated settlement," Mr Blair said. He did not deviate from the longterm position that Israel should return to its 1967 borders and hand over the West Bank in its entirety to the Palestinians to form their own state.

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Mr Olmert's plan, which Israeli officials expect to begin late next year, would see Israel retaining three large settler blocs - Ariel, Maale Adumin and Gush Etzion. Under the plan, about 60,000-70,000 settlers in the West Bank would lose their homes but about 130,000 others would remain. Israel would also retain the Jordan Valley and settlements that effectively encircle Jerusalem, making it difficult for Palestinians to realise their dream of a capital in east Jerusalem.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1796347,00.html