MIDDLE EAST: Israel will delineate its own borders by carrying out a unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank, including the evacuation of isolated settlements, a senior member of acting prime minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party said yesterday.
"In the absence of a Palestinian partner, Israel will have to determine its final borders by itself, and that will involve the consolidation of smaller settlements into settlement blocs," said Avi Dichter, a former head of the Shin Bet security service and one of the leading security figures in Mr Olmert's party.
Unlike the Gaza withdrawal last year in which Israel pulled out of all 21 settlements in the Strip, Mr Dichter said the Israeli military would remain in areas where settlements had been evacuated.
"It will be only a civilian disengagement, not a military disengagement," he said.
While Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is still in a deep coma in a Jerusalem hospital, had said there would be no further unilateral moves after the Gaza pull-out, Mr Olmert has increasingly intimated that he plans to draw Israel's borders - unilaterally if necessary.
The victory by Hamas, which does not recognise Israel, in Palestinian parliamentary elections in January, has strengthened the thinking that underpinned the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza.
Addressing the annual conference via satellite yesterday of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - the pro-Israel lobby in Washington - Mr Olmert said Israel's goal was "to ultimately decide on the permanent borders for the state of Israel while separating from the Palestinians".
While he did not specifically confirm Mr Dichter's remarks about a unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank, Mr Olmert did say Israel "will take the initiative if we will find that the Palestinians are not ready, are not prepared, or not mature enough to be able to make the necessary adjustments within themselves in order to be ready for this challenge".
A Hamas lawmaker said Mr Dichter's comments were proof there was no one to talk to on the Israeli side: "Once again, Israel is threatening to adopt unilateral measures that vindicate Hamas's view that there is no partner in Israel who seeks real peace, and that Israel used negotiations in previous years as a pretext to ignore and stall the granting of Palestinian rights," said Salah Bardawil.
With just three weeks until Israelis head for the polling stations, talk of a planned unilateral West Bank pull-out by Mr Olmert, if he is elected, drew criticism from hawks and doves.
The centre-right Likud said another withdrawal would be a "prize to Hamas", while members of the left-wing Meretz party said the plan outlined by Mr Dichter was a "virtual evacuation" that fell short of a true peace deal.
Kadima, which was set up by Mr Sharon, holds a big lead in the opinion polls, but it has been slipping in recent weeks and the revelations yesterday about Mr Olmert's future plans could also be seen as an attempt to grab control of the electoral agenda.
In the last 10 days, the campaign has focused on the issue of corruption, as several newspaper reports have highlighted Mr Olmert's involvement in lucrative real-estate deals.
He was recently cleared by the state comptroller of any impropriety in one of the transactions.