Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Peace Plan
by Israel HighWay staff

Whether it's called a Disengagement, Convergence, or Realignment plan - what is it? What are Ehud Olmert's plans for the West Bank and Israel's settlers? Who supports the plan and who opposes it?

When Ehud Olmert took over as prime minister from the ailing Ariel Sharon, he announced that he would follow Sharon's example of "disengaging" from territories Israel captured in the 1967 war. Sharon, of course, led the disengagement last summer from Gaza and a relatively small area of the northern West Bank (Samaria). Now, Olmert is considering a "realignment" or withdrawal from approximately 90 percent of the West Bank, moving tens of thousands of residents of remote settlements into large settlement blocs that would remain part of Israel. Like Sharon, Olmert is committed to withdrawing with or without a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians.

The Prime Minister outlined his plan when he spoke before the U.S. Congress on May 24:

With a genuine Palestinian partner for peace, I believe we can reach an agreement on all the issues that divide us…. But if there is to be a just, fair and lasting peace, we need a partner who rejects violence and who values life more than death. We need a partner that affirms in action, not just in words, the rejection, prevention and elimination of terror. … Should we realize that the bilateral track with the Palestinians is of no consequence, should the Palestinians ignore our outstretched hand for peace, Israel will seek other alternatives to promote our future and the prospects of hope in the Middle East. At that juncture, the time for realignment will occur.

Issue of the Week is continued below

Torah Being Written For Florida Teen Killed In Suicide Attack

A Torah is being written for a Weston teenager who died from injuries he suffered in a suicide attack in Tel Aviv. The religious scroll is being written for 16-year-old Daniel Wultz. Wultz was visiting Israel with his family and eating lunch at a Tel Aviv restaurant with his father when a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated an explosive nearby on April 17. Wultz died about four weeks later. He was among 12 people killed in the attack, including the bomber.

Daniel's parents and sister were the first people to write in the new scroll. The Torah will be taken to Israel, where a scribe will complete it. When the scroll is finished, it will be returned to a synagogue in Weston. The Torah is expected to be completed before the anniversary of the teen's death. (News4Jax)

Israel Celebrates Quarter-Century Since Strike on Iraqi Nuke Facilities by Dan Baron

Twenty-five years ago, eight Israeli fighter pilots took off in their F-16s on a crucial and extremely dangerous mission that forever changed the Middle East. The June 7, 1981, strike against Iraq's atomic reactor at Osirak, which many believed denied Saddam Hussein the bomb, has long been a case study in air power virtuosity.

Of late, with Western jitters building over Iran's nuclear ambitions, it is also being examined as a model for a pre-emptive action to deprive a dangerous regime of doomsday weaponry.

Israel has been celebrating the 25th anniversary of Osirak by lifting some of the secrecy over the mission. The seven surviving pilots have been giving interviews, while real-time footage of the mission, captured by the planes' onboard cameras, was publicly broadcast. (JTA)

Controversy over Activist Teacher and His Views on Israel
by Gary Band

The Andover School Committee is looking into the actions and behavior of a high school physics teacher and his possible role in coaching students' political views against Israel. This action comes four months after Andover, MA High School teacher Ron Francis posted an article on the Somerville Divestment Project Web site defending Hamas from media bias. Francis' alleged actions have prompted phone calls and e-mails to the school from parents concerned about how he may have recruited and coached four students in an after-school club and paid them to collect signatures on behalf of the Somerville Divestment Project last fall. (Jewish Advocate)

Israel Does Not Target Innocents, Will Defend Its People from Terrorist Rockets by Herb Keinon

The Israeli Foreign Ministry is instructing its representatives to stress the following points: The Israeli Army is a cautious, professional, accurate, and ethical organization. Israel does not target innocents, yet must fight terrorists who willingly shield themselves behind their own population in their ongoing campaign to kill and maim Israeli civilians. These terrorists also manipulate and exploit the suffering they cause their own people in order to achieve fleeting advantages in their propaganda war against Israel and its legitimacy.

Since Israel's disengagement from Gaza last August, more than 500 terrorist rockets have fallen on Israeli civilian targets, including kindergartens, schools, homes, and factories. (Jerusalem Post)

Sderot Children 'Traumatized'

More than half of the children in the southern Israeli town Sderot are suffering from post-traumatic stress as a result of missiles launched on it from Gaza, Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal said on Tuesday.

"They're going back to sleeping with their parents; they refuse to go out after sunset, and they cannot concentrate on their studies," he said, adding that many children are on medication to help them sleep and get through their schoolwork.

Sderot, located half a mile from the edge of the Gaza Strip, has come under Qassam rocket attacks since 2001, but the rocket assaults have recently increased. More than 60 rockets landed in the Sderot area over the weekend (pictured: Kassam attack drill in Sderot school) (Media Line)

Montreal: Marching to Jerusalem

More than 5,000 people took part last week in the 34th annual March to Jerusalem, FEDERATION CJA's 18-kilometer walkathon through the streets of Montreal and Outremont. Proceeds go to help young people participate in Bronfman Israel Experience Center programs. The March also gives Montrealers an opportunity to walk and converse while celebrating the wonderful Jewish community and its close connection to the State of Israel, said federation president Richard Vineberg. (Canadian Jewish News)

Not Your Typical Israeli Grandma by Stephanie L. Freid

It was an incongruous sight. Among the business and military dignitaries who were honored by Israel as torchbearers marking the beginning of the country's 58th Independence Day celebrations in May, was a Druze Arab great-grandmother dressed in festive traditional garb.

Gamila Hiar, 68, known widely as 'Safta Gamila' - Grandma Gamila - of Peqiin, a small village in the Upper Galilee stood alongside Israeli billionaire Stef Wertheimer, former Southern commander Major General Doron Almog and other notables chosen to usher in the holiday. With the ceremony's theme "the development of the Negev and Galilee," each torchbearer was honored for contributing in some way to the communities in northern and southern Israel.

Hiar, specifically, was honored for the example she set for her village and the country at large by establishing a hand-made soap industry that has developed into an international enterprise. She employs 25 Christian, Druze, Moslem and Jewish women in her soap factory. (Israel21c)

Two Sons of Abraham Meet on an Appalachian Trail
by Aaron B. Cohen

The same day Mayor Richard M. Daley was in Jerusalem, learning (among many other things) how Israel protects her citizens from Palestinian terror, I was on a treacherous Appalachian switchback, schmoozing about pluralism with Khaled (pictured right, with the author), a Palestinian-American truck driver.

I told him how Israel's Arab citizens own businesses, go to university, vote, and serve in the Knesset. I told him why we American Jews love Israel and why the Jewish people need to be independent and free of persecution just like everybody else.

"You know, you're the first Jew I've really ever talked to," Khaled said warmly. We agreed there should be peace in the Middle East but there probably wouldn't be, that it was nice to get to know one another but odd that it took being stuck in the boonies to have the chance. We talked about Sunnis and Shi'as in Iraq, about Jews and Arabs, and about terrorism. He admitted he had heard the theory that "the Jews" had something to do with 9/11. I believe I convinced him that the idea was not only absurd but also racist.

Soon Khaled went his way and I went mine. Soon Mayor Daley would discover more of the great miracle that is Israel. Soon hundreds of Jewish motorcyclists from across North America would feel an indescribable surge of love and healing at a Holocaust memorial in a little gym in Whitwell, Tenn, a tiny speck on a shrinking planet, a place where fellowship is no stranger.

Editor's note: Whitwell Middle School is famous for its 29 million paper clip collection to commemorate the Holocaust. (Chicago Jewish Community Online)

Even Little Things Make me Feel Connected to Israel
by Emily Gross-Rosenblatt

My first Israel experience occurred even before we arrived. On the plane I saw a group of Orthodox Jews praying near the window when the sun rose. This was the beginning of many such images that I was about to see that will stay with me for a lifetime.

I am particularly concerned about the well-being of our planet, so I was particularly interested in the creative ways Israelis have found to conserve water. They invented drip irrigation, and we saw the hoses with small holes in them near plants all over the country.

In America it is a big deal to use Jerusalem stone as a building material. I remember being so impressed when our Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage was constructed of Jerusalem stone. Of course the stone is more plentiful in Israel, but it was still surprising to see it used all over, even for gas stations!

For 17 days, we spent time with Israelis, ate their food, and walked their land. We visited sites important to our heritage and enjoyed adventures. Ten years of learning all came together with this trip. Israel used to be a distant place, but now when someone mentions the Jewish state, I feel a connection that I believe will continue to nourish me throughout my life. The author is a student at the Agnon School in Cleveland. (Cleveland Jewish News)

Peer Wakes Up to Star Status by Rami Hipsh

Shahar Peer woke up to her new status as an Israeli sports icon. After winning two clay court titles in May and making the last 16 of the French Open earlier this week, the 19-year-old has turned from a name known only to sports fans to a prime time star. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Sports Minister Ophir Pines-Paz were among her well-wishers. "I can feel the change in the number of SMS messages I receive," said Peer. "The fact that the prime minister and the sports minister told me they had watched me play makes me feel good. It's kind of strange, but it's fun." (Ha'aretz)

San Francisco Goes Sabra at Packed 'Israel in the Gardens'
by Alexandra J. Wall

The sun shone brightly as Rami Kleinstein - sometimes called "the Israeli Elton John" - moved about the stage in his white tank top and New York Yankees cap turned backwards at the annual "Israel in the Gardens" celebration.

The large, mostly Israeli ex-pat crowd mouthed the words to every song, while many dads hoisted their kids on their shoulders to get a better view of a musician from back home. The music charged the crowd of thousands of people on the picture-perfect day in San Francisco. A group of young American women were overheard saying that Kleinstein not only put on a great show, but was "eye candy," in the words of one, and "hot!" in the words of another. (Jewish News Weekly)

Reggae Vibe Rocks the Holy Land by Laura Resnick

Young Israelis sporting dreadlocks and wool Rastafarian caps rocked to the beat of homegrown Hebrew reggae bands at a recent music festival, a sign of reggae's steadily increasing popularity in Israel. Kibbutz Tseelim, a tiny community in Israel's Negev Desert, welcomed 1,600 reggae fans to its second annual Spring Festival.

"In a country like Israel, with all the stress, this music - the message and the melody - makes people more relaxed," said disc jockey Tal Grubstein, aka Dr. Reggae, who helped run the sound system at the festival. "When these people all get together at a festival like Tseelim, you can feel the vibe. There's no pushing, no aggression, no violence."

While the connection between reggae and Judaism may not seem self-evident, Jewish reggae artists are a growing phenomenon in the United States as well as Israel.

Matisyahu (born Matthew Miller), who has recorded three albums, is an observant Hasidic Jew in New York who sings Hebrew prayers in a reggae style. He divides his time between his yeshiva and the stage, where he plays to sold-out crowds. An American band called Adonai and I performs roots reggae based on Hebrew prayers, melodies, and psalms. King Django is a ska hipster from Brooklyn who combines reggae rhythms with Yiddish lyrics.

[Editor's note: Matisyahu appeared in Israel this week with Sting. Ziggy Marley (pictured right) performs in Israel later this month.] (AP/SFGate)

Israel as a Source of Interest, Challenge and Identity
by Ze'ev Bielski

We are working to strengthen the "attractive" elements of Israel, but in the absence of significant factors that help "push" them, most Jews in the Diaspora, particularly in the United States, choose to remain where they are. The lives of many of them are connected to Israel. They contribute to it generously and are involved in many joint projects, like strengthening the Galilee and Negev, narrowing social gaps or advancing education. They regard the connection with Israel as the primary means for connecting their children with Jewish tradition, culture and values, with the assets of Jewish culture and community life, and particularly as a means for guaranteeing their continued lives as Jews.

In a technological, mobile and accessible world, in the global village of our day, a Jew living in New Jersey can hold a bar mitzvah for his son at the Western Wall, send his daughter to the Hebrew University for an education, use Skype to talk with friends in Tel Aviv, host in his home young Israelis who are going to be counselors at a Jewish summer camp, contribute to the establishment of student residences in Afula, take part in a project to advance youth in Dimona, and be involved in life in Israel through repeated visits to the country. The writer is chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization. (Chicago Jewish Community Online)

Israel Does Not Need Palestinian Recognition by Yehuda Avner

On the first day of his premiership in 1977, Menachem Begin was asked by the BBC whether he looked forward to a time when the Palestinians would recognize Israel. "I don't need Palestinian recognition for my right to exist," he replied. Later that day he told the Knesset, "Would it enter the mind of any Briton or Frenchman, Belgian or Dutchman, Hungarian or Bulgarian, Russian or American, to request for its people recognition of its right to exist?"

"We were granted our right to exist by the God of our fathers at the glimmer of the dawn of human civilization four thousand years ago. Hence, the Jewish people have an historic, eternal, and inalienable right to exist in this land, Eretz Yisrael, the land of our forefathers. We need nobody's recognition in asserting this inalienable right. And for this inalienable right, which has been sanctified in Jewish blood from generation to generation, we have paid a price unexampled in the annals of nations." (Jerusalem Post)

Chorus of Hypocrites by Amnon Dankner

We withdrew from the Gaza Strip, down to the last centimeter, in a painful, wrenching step; we shattered communities and families and we are entitled to demand complete quiet from the Palestinian side in Gaza. We are also entitled to respond with force when the lives of Israeli residents are put at risk and to try to remove the harrowing nightmare that is hanging over our heads day and night.

Once, my lot was with those who thought that if we would only be nicer, show more goodwill, be more humane, and offer more concessions - everything would be just fine. But the lesson that we learned, and which cost us so much blood, is that this approach which thinks that if we just give peace a chance, it will crown us with garlands; if only we do not respond with force and do not stand up for our lives, a warm sun of marvelous tranquility will shine upon us - is so stupid in the perspective of what we have gone through, that the brain bubbles with astonishment at hearing such things.

The writer is the editor of Ma'ariv. (Ma'ariv)

What Does the Rest of the World Think?

In response, President Bush gave qualified support to the Israeli leader's plan. Bush called it "bold" but urged Olmert first to seek a negotiated agreement with Palestinian President Abbas. Following his Washington visit, Prime Minister Olmert continued on to Egypt, Jordan, England and France to present his proposal to those countries' leaders. Most responded by reiterating the American call for a settlement based on bilateral negotiations, not a unilateral Israeli step.

"The closest Prime Minister Tony Blair came to an endorsement was to say that in lieu of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, 'other ways will have to be found.' Blair repeatedly insisted that a negotiated settlement was the one way to solve the conflict. 'I don't want to go down any path other than a negotiated settlement,' Blair said. 'The only answer is a negotiated settlement. There really isn't another way to move forward,'" the Jerusalem Post reported.

Jordan's King Abdullah expressed grave concern about Olmert's plan. The King explained that a unilateral move on the West Bank could undermine Jordan's stability by encouraging Islamic militants inside the Hashemite Kingdom.

The Palestinians and some Arab regimes see the Olmert plan which retains 10 percent of the West Bank as a "land grab," and they demand a complete Israeli return to the 1967 lines. Olmert made it very clear in Britain that such a withdrawal was unacceptable. "Israel would never agree to pull out of all of the West Bank to pre-1967 borders because those borders are indefensible," the Prime Minister told the British Parliament.

Plan's Details Still Sketchy

The Olmert plan has not yet been released or detailed, as the Prime Minister himself told Yediot Aharanot two weeks ago: "We will try to establish an infrastructure of international understanding," Olmert explained, "aiming to bring about borders…by concentrating Jewish communities and creating a contiguous Palestinian-governed territory. At a certain stage, there will be maps too. What is a plan? A plan is what you have in your head. In my head I have a plan. I don't know it to a one millimeter resolution, but I certainly know what I want. We need to be patient."

The realignment will not be a repeat of the forced evacuation of Gaza, Yediot recently revealed. "It will not be a military operation but rather a choice by the citizens to move out," said Brig. Gen. (retired) Eival Giladi, the architect and coordinator of the Gaza Strip disengagement. "There is not going to be another disengagement in a military manner where the army and police will evacuate people from their homes – not in 2006, not in 2007, and not in 2008. It seems that certain dynamics are developing that will allow people to begin moving out as a choice. No one will evacuate them; I don't see the same model as previously, and I don't think the government should repeat something that we were unsuccessful at. But we will offer financial incentives and people will decide, they will have time. With no rush. It's not going be an evacuation that will last three to four weeks," he explained.

Opposition to the Plan in Israel

With the Palestinian territories on the verge of a civil war and with continued Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, Israeli public opinion has now become skeptical about a plan that would surrender more territory to the Palestinians. "Some 56 percent of Israelis oppose Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's convergence plan," according to a new Ha'aretz-Dialog poll. The poll found that only 37 percent of Israelis support the plan.

The idea of a unilateral withdrawal is drawing criticism even from senior Israeli officials who backed the disengagement from Gaza. Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland served as the head of the National Security Council under Prime Minister Sharon. In a recent interview Eiland warned, "There is logic in the thinking [behind the realignment plan], but it does not lead to long-term stability. The move along a unilateral path leads us to the classic solution of two states for two peoples, and I think this is an impossible solution. Between the [Mediterranean] sea and the [Jordan] river there is not enough area to contain two states, and I think that in order to maintain a defensible border, Israel needs at least 12 percent of the West Bank. Even a Palestinian state with 100 percent of the Gaza Strip and 97 percent of the West Bank is not viable. Such a country will be poor, radical, restive, where the demographic pressures will be unbearable."

Citing Eiland, columnist Ari Shavit argued, "The basic law of the Israeli-Palestinian jungle is that an Israeli withdrawal does not diminish the conflict, but instead exacerbates it. Since any Israeli withdrawal is interpreted by the Palestinians as surrender, it increases their appetite to obtain additional surrenders. The result is not stability, but violence, which under the conditions of the end of the occupation, is liable to become extreme."

Seeing the Glass as Half-Full

Israeli analyst Yossi Alpher disputes this grim prediction and argues that negotiations will be possible. "Moderate Palestinians are tragically wrong in seeing Israeli unilateralism as an unmitigated disaster," Alpher wrote. "The settlement blocs remaining in Israeli hands are little different from what Barak, Yasser Arafat and President Bill Clinton nearly agreed on six years ago at Camp David. The fence, which is constantly being moved toward the green line, embraces no more than nine percent of the West Bank. Even if Olmert somehow thought he could persuade the world to recognize his 'realignment' border fence as final and official, he now acknowledges that it will be little more than the starting point for future negotiations.

"Meanwhile," Alpher continued, "Palestinians will witness the removal of dozens of hated settlements and the checkpoints and roadblocks that accompany them, without being asked for a quid pro quo. In this way, Olmert's plan does indeed keep alive the possibility of negotiating a two-state solution once Palestinians achieve stability under a moderate and effective leadership. Surely this is an improvement on the current situation."

There is no doubt that the Palestinians, Arab states, and many world leaders would like to see Israel leave most if not all of the West Bank. But almost all have strong reservations about the Olmert plan to move unilaterally, without negotiating with the Palestinians. It is no wonder, therefore, that during his visit to Europe this week Prime Minister Olmert told his hosts he would "make every effort" to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Olmert insisted on three conditions: terrorism must stop, the Palestinians must recognize previous agreements, and they must recognize Israel's right to exist. "We will make every effort so that we can hold negotiations, based on these three demands and the road map [peace plan], with the Palestinian Authority," Olmert said.

With this promise, the Prime Minister may secure support in Europe and the United States. But as long as Palestinian missiles slam into Israeli homes and a Palestinian civil war may erupt at any minute, Olmert faces an uphill battle to secure support for his plan among Israelis.(Israel HighWay)

Additional reading:

Interview with Giora Eiland, Former Head of Israel's National Security Council, Ha'aretz

Take Your Time, Mr. Prime Minister, by Hillel Halkin, Jerusalem Post

Egypt and Jordan 'Seek to Nix Unilateral Withdrawal' by Avi Isacharoff, Ha'aretz

If Not Realignment, What? by Alon Pinkas, Jerusalem Post

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