Olmert raised the possibility during his address to participants at the gathering of Nobel Prize laureates in Petra this week in response to a question by an Israeli in the audience.
Hebrew University’s Nobel laureate in economics, Professor Yisrael Aumann asked Olmert during the event if he really intended to revisit the Gush Katif fiasco in which 8,000 Jews were forcibly evicted from their homes in Gaza last summer.
Aumann asked Olmert if he would “expel tens of thousands of people from their homes” in Judea and Samaria as part of the unilateral withdrawal plan in which Israel would set its own permanent boundaries with the PA. He called the plan a “crime against humanity.”
Olmert has repeated numerous times in the past that he will destroy tens of Jewish communities, evicting some 70,000 Jews if the PA does not negotiate a permanent settlement within the next six months.
For the first time, however, Olmert may be considering a new option: allowing Jewish residents to determine their own destiny if Israel moves ahead with unilateral withdrawal.
“Each and every one of the settlers who live in territories that stand to be evacuated will need to decide whether to live in a Jewish state, the state of Israel, or in a Palestinian state,” he responded.
Justice Minister: ‘Not So Fast’
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon’s response to Olmert’s remarks was quick and critical. In an interview on Israel Radio Friday morning, he immediately vetoed the plan, saying it was neither right nor realistic.
“What is right is that ultimately two nations will live side by side, not one inside the other,” he told listeners on Israel Radio. “This will ultimately drag Israel back into the territories,” he said, adding that he did not believe Jews would want to become Palestinian citizens.
Not a New Idea
The suggested plan was recommended last year by Rabbi Menachem Froman, a resident of Tekoa. “We are here because of a divine belief to settle this land,” he said in an interview with the BBC last November. “There are no diamonds here, there is no gas, and there is no gold,” he said.
Froman said that he had talked with the founder of the terror organization, Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, about the plan. “I talked with Yassin in Gaza,” he said, and added that Yassin told him, “You and I can make peace in five minutes.”
Under the plan, Jewish residents in Yesha would have the option of remaining in their communities located on the “other side” of the developing permanent border. Froman apparently met with the late PA leader, Yasser Arafat as well, whom he claimed also had interest in the idea.
Others have considered the possibility as well. Peter Medding, of Hebrew University’s Political Science Department, raised the issue last year.
“Whatever borders are going to be drawn… I think it is true to say that many Jewish settlers are ultimately going to be faced with a choice of living under the Palestinian Authority or leaving,” he said.
Some Gush Katif Residents Supported the Plan
Residents of four communities later destroyed during the Gush Katif expulsion last summer had advanced a similar plan, one which then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected out of hand.
“We are people who intend to carry on living in Samaria under Palestinian rule and not under Israeli rule,” said 28-year-old Drori Stuan, a resident of the former Jewish community of Kadim.
“If the state of Israel doesn’t want us, we don’t want it,” he said. Stuan was one of the founders of Kadim. “There are Jews everywhere in the world – in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, so we want to be Jews under Palestinian sovereignty. We are not afraid and I believe it will be good for us and we will live safely, like Jews in other parts of the world,” he said in an interview with daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronot.
Former PA Foreign Ministry: ‘Yes, of Course’
The chief policy analyst at the PA Foreign Ministry, Majdi al-Khalidi, told Arab news service Al-Jazeera that Jews, like any other foreigners, would be welcome.
“Yes, of course the Palestinian Authority will grant residency to anyone who wishes to stay, no matter what their status, as long as they respect Palestinian law,” he said.
Al-Khalidi quickly qualified the words of welcome, however. “Naturally, there is going to be a review of legal ownership of property and buildings – but the process will be carried out by a transparent legal process and not decided by force of arms,” he claimed. “If individual Jews can prove ownership of land before Israel’s creation in a Palestinian court, their claim will be recognized,” he added.
The Here and Now
In any event, Hamas is now in control of the PA after its landslide victory in January elections this year. The previous Fatah-controlled PA government is gone, and PLO Chairman and PA President Mahmoud Abbas is locked in a bloody power struggle with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s Hamas faction.
Olmert has stated that any negotiations will have to be carried out with the current Hamas-led PA government, despite Abbas’ willingness to talk peace. Hamas continues to refuse to renounce violence, uphold agreements signed by the previous PA administration or formally recognize Israel’s right to exist.
Hebrew University’s Nobel laureate in economics, Professor Yisrael Aumann asked Olmert during the event if he really intended to revisit the Gush Katif fiasco in which 8,000 Jews were forcibly evicted from their homes in Gaza last summer.
Aumann asked Olmert if he would “expel tens of thousands of people from their homes” in Judea and Samaria as part of the unilateral withdrawal plan in which Israel would set its own permanent boundaries with the PA. He called the plan a “crime against humanity.”
Olmert has repeated numerous times in the past that he will destroy tens of Jewish communities, evicting some 70,000 Jews if the PA does not negotiate a permanent settlement within the next six months.
For the first time, however, Olmert may be considering a new option: allowing Jewish residents to determine their own destiny if Israel moves ahead with unilateral withdrawal.
“Each and every one of the settlers who live in territories that stand to be evacuated will need to decide whether to live in a Jewish state, the state of Israel, or in a Palestinian state,” he responded.
Justice Minister: ‘Not So Fast’
Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon’s response to Olmert’s remarks was quick and critical. In an interview on Israel Radio Friday morning, he immediately vetoed the plan, saying it was neither right nor realistic.
“What is right is that ultimately two nations will live side by side, not one inside the other,” he told listeners on Israel Radio. “This will ultimately drag Israel back into the territories,” he said, adding that he did not believe Jews would want to become Palestinian citizens.
Not a New Idea
The suggested plan was recommended last year by Rabbi Menachem Froman, a resident of Tekoa. “We are here because of a divine belief to settle this land,” he said in an interview with the BBC last November. “There are no diamonds here, there is no gas, and there is no gold,” he said.
Froman said that he had talked with the founder of the terror organization, Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, about the plan. “I talked with Yassin in Gaza,” he said, and added that Yassin told him, “You and I can make peace in five minutes.”
Under the plan, Jewish residents in Yesha would have the option of remaining in their communities located on the “other side” of the developing permanent border. Froman apparently met with the late PA leader, Yasser Arafat as well, whom he claimed also had interest in the idea.
Others have considered the possibility as well. Peter Medding, of Hebrew University’s Political Science Department, raised the issue last year.
“Whatever borders are going to be drawn… I think it is true to say that many Jewish settlers are ultimately going to be faced with a choice of living under the Palestinian Authority or leaving,” he said.
Some Gush Katif Residents Supported the Plan
Residents of four communities later destroyed during the Gush Katif expulsion last summer had advanced a similar plan, one which then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected out of hand.
“We are people who intend to carry on living in Samaria under Palestinian rule and not under Israeli rule,” said 28-year-old Drori Stuan, a resident of the former Jewish community of Kadim.
“If the state of Israel doesn’t want us, we don’t want it,” he said. Stuan was one of the founders of Kadim. “There are Jews everywhere in the world – in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, so we want to be Jews under Palestinian sovereignty. We are not afraid and I believe it will be good for us and we will live safely, like Jews in other parts of the world,” he said in an interview with daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronot.
Former PA Foreign Ministry: ‘Yes, of Course’
The chief policy analyst at the PA Foreign Ministry, Majdi al-Khalidi, told Arab news service Al-Jazeera that Jews, like any other foreigners, would be welcome.
“Yes, of course the Palestinian Authority will grant residency to anyone who wishes to stay, no matter what their status, as long as they respect Palestinian law,” he said.
Al-Khalidi quickly qualified the words of welcome, however. “Naturally, there is going to be a review of legal ownership of property and buildings – but the process will be carried out by a transparent legal process and not decided by force of arms,” he claimed. “If individual Jews can prove ownership of land before Israel’s creation in a Palestinian court, their claim will be recognized,” he added.
The Here and Now
In any event, Hamas is now in control of the PA after its landslide victory in January elections this year. The previous Fatah-controlled PA government is gone, and PLO Chairman and PA President Mahmoud Abbas is locked in a bloody power struggle with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s Hamas faction.
Olmert has stated that any negotiations will have to be carried out with the current Hamas-led PA government, despite Abbas’ willingness to talk peace. Hamas continues to refuse to renounce violence, uphold agreements signed by the previous PA administration or formally recognize Israel’s right to exist.