THE Israeli government decided last night that its troops would withdraw from 9 per cent of the West Bank as part of a redeployment accord with the Palestinians, Israeli radio reported this morning.
The radio said the pullout proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was approved by 10 votes to seven.
About 7 per cent of the territory involved is in the so-called "B" zone which is under Palestinian civilian administration but controlled by the Israeli army.
Two per cent is in the "C" zone, at present exclusively controlled by the Israelis.
The "A" zone concerns fully autonomous Palestinian areas.
"As soon as the government takes its decision, the army will get orders to go ahead with the redeployment," Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordehai said before the cabinet meeting.
He said the operation would take "48 hours or a little longer" and would thus not be completed today.
Even such a restricted redeployment was fiercely opposed by hardline nationalist members of the government and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
Four pro-government members of parliament threatened to withdraw their support if Israeli troops pulled out of more than 0.5 per cent of the "C" zone.
The "A" zone, covering eight towns, comprises just over 3 per cent of the West Bank, the "B" zone 27 per cent and the "C" zone, containing military bases and Jewish settlements, 70 per cent.
Under the terms of a January 15th agreement with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, Israel is to hand over unspecified West Bank rural areas in three phases - one today, a second in September and the last by August 1998.
Once the scope of the first withdrawal is determined by the cabinet, the actual handover will be carried out within 48 hours, more or less respecting today's deadline, Israeli officials said.
Mr Netanyahu has refused publicly to say how much additional West Bank land he is willing to hand over, other than to insist it will fall short of the 90 per cent of the territory sought by the Palestinians.
While the new redeployment will be less visible or dramatic than the previous extensions of self-rule to big Palestinian towns, it will distance Israeli troops from some populated areas, easing the dangers of conflict and freeing residents from the weight of military occupation.
Israel public radio quoted security officials as saying the withdrawal would nonetheless maintain Israeli control of all West Bank roads and land around settlements and would not link up the isolated self-rule towns, leaving only blocs of Palestinian autonomy.