Israel’s government had its first discussion on Sunday of a plan to offer West Bank settlers cash to leave their homes, a largely symbolic step taken as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government approaches the premature end of its term.
The plan would pave the way for a large-scale pullback after a peace agreement with the Palestinians. But both sides say such a peace accord, or even a partial agreement, are far from completion.
Israel is pushing for adjustments in the line between the West Bank and Israel, allowing it to keep main settlement blocs where most of the nearly 300,000 Jewish settlers live, offering to trade Israeli land for the blocs. The Palestinians have not accepted the idea.
The politician behind offering compensation to the settlers, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon, believes that only about 62,000 would have to move from 72 locations deep in the West Bank that would be turned over to the Palestinians as part of their state.
The average payment under the plan would be 1.1 million shekels (US$300,000) to every family that leaves the West Bank, with bonuses for moving away from the heavily populated center of the country.
Tomorrow Olmert and Ramon’s Kadima Party is set to elect a new leader, after which Olmert — who has been plagued by corruption allegations — says he will step down. If Olmert’s replacement cannot put together a new coalition government, Israel will hold elections.
Both of the leading candidates to replace Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, have said they oppose Ramon’s idea because it compromises negotiations with the Palestinians by giving up too much too early.
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