News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is not backing the initiative of Defense Minister Ehud Barak to pay residents of Judea and Samaria to voluntarily leave their homes. The Prime Minister does want to expel most of the residents outside major population areas; one possible reason for his objecting to encourage them to leave now is fear that his coalition will collapse.

Several members of Prime Minister Olmert's Kadima party have openly opposed his plans, which include ceding parts of Jerusalem for a new Arab state within Israel's current border.