Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas 93 percent of Judea and Samaria and free passage from Gaza in return for Israel's retaining heavily populated areas in Yesha, according to the Hebrew daily Haaretz. The Prime Minister is trying to forge a final agreement in principle with the PA before he steps down from office. He has said he will resign after his Kadima party chooses a new leader next month.

Under the proposal, Israel would retain Ma'aleh Adumim, Gush Etzion, communities adjacent or near Jerusalem and several towns in Samaria near the pre-1967 border. Free passage from Gaza would be conditioned on the PA's retaking control of the region from Hamas. The proposal does not define the status of Jerusalem, but Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza have been constantly told by the PA that it will not accept any new state that does not include all of the land, including eastern Jerusalem, that was restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.

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