‘Convergence’ Outcome Exaggerated
Excerpts;
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said this week in a private meeting that his “convergence” plan for a major West Bank withdrawal will involve the removal of fewer than 70,000 settlers, the figure most widely quoted in the media. Other sources in Kadima, meanwhile, now say that the eventual number of settlers to be evacuated will be much lower than 70,000.
The total number of Israelis living in settlements to the east of the separation fence is some 70,000. This has therefore been widely assumed to be the number slated for withdrawal, since the convergence vision presented by Olmert before the elections included moving the settlers from areas beyond the fence into “settlement blocs” within the fence.
But Kadima members involved in the ongoing talks between Olmert and the settlers now say that 70,000 is “a media invention and the actual number will be much lower.”
Members of Kadima involved in the talks are also claiming that the estimated price tag for convergence is much lower than the NIS 80 billion sum commonly mentioned, which is ten times what disengagement from Gaza cost.
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Bush Won’t Set Timetable for Pullout
Excerpts;
President George Bush will ask Prime Minister Ehud Olmert if his convergence plan was compatible with the idea of a two-state solution when the two leaders will meet next week. According to a senior administration official, Bush will expect Olmert to explain how a unilateral move could be compatible with the US administration’s wish for a negotiated final status agreement.
The official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that President Bush will not express his opinion on the plan at this stage. “We need answers before the President can make a decision. There will be no decisions made at this meeting,” the official emphasized.
The US administration believes that there is sufficient time to pursue both the idea of direct negotiations on a final status agreement and the unilateral withdrawal plan, since no settlement would be removed before the end of 2007 or the middle of 2008. According to the official, it would still be possible to go ahead with negotiations if there was a political change in the Palestinian Authority by the time Israel was ready to implement the convergence plan.
Although “There is no timetable and no fixed date,” the official said, “Olmert has limited time in office” and wanted to implement his plan while George Bush was still in the White House. Even so, the US would not set a deadline for Olmert on implementing the convergence plan.
