Olmert: Israeli West Bank withdrawal in one phase
Palestine-Israel, Politics, 6/2/2006

Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Wednesday that a withdrawal from the West Bank will be carried out in one phase.

Olmert told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper that his "consolidation plan" to remove Jewish settlers from their homes as part of the pullout slated to be implemented by 2008 will not be easy.

"This process will be difficult and painful even if we do it in the smoothest way," Olmert told Yediot, "I think that breaking it into phases will shock the public and thus I oppose this."

As part of the plan, Olmert wants to allow the Palestinians to take control of West Bank land, and to set down Israel's final borders with a Palestinian entity by 2008.

The territory under Palestinian control will be contiguous," Olmert said in the interview. Palestinians believe Olmert's plan will create isolated cantons in the West Bank, making it difficult for them to establish a viable state.

The withdrawal will require the removal of thousands of Jewish settlers from their homes, but many will be moved to West Bank settlement blocs that Israel will maintain.

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