Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported that leaders of the Israeli Labor Party are trying to convince Labor Party leader, Amir Peretz, to announce his support to another unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank, if the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians fail to advance.
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that the three big parties in Israel, Likud, Kadima, and Labor, denied recently, especially after the Gaza withdrawal, any possibility of unilateral disengagement from the West Bank.
According to Maariv, Peretz held several meetings in order to discuss the main issues of his election campaign which pushed some of the party officials to discuss the adoption of a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank.
Peretz intends to present his political agenda during the Hertzilia conference this year; senior leaders of the party would like Peretz to talk about a possibility of a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank.
A Labor member of Knesset told Maariv that the Labor party will stand, on the same spot Sharon used to announce his unilateral pullout during the Hertzilia conference, to talk about negotiations with the Palestinians, "and if necessary, we will announce another pullout".
Political analysts in Israel believe that the Hertzilia conference will be an important step for the Labor party in order to prove that it was a clear agenda.
Several members of Knesset, and leaders of the Labor party will most likely support this move, those members include Ehud Barak, and Mitan Vilna’ey.
A source close to Peretz reported that the later is interested in ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, "Peretz understands that if the peace deal was not possible, he will have be clear with the Israelis and tell them that he will head for implementing an additional disengagement, and evacuate more settlements in the West Bank.
Also, the source added that this "new disengagement" will, unlike the first one, be beneficial for Israel, the source stated.
Yet, some critics in Israel said that Peretz is "confused" since he is a man of negotiations and does not believe in unilateral procedures.
Leaders of the Labor party want Peretz to declare his intentions in order to show the difference between the policies of the Labor and Kadima.
"Officials in Kadima will be confused", the source added, "They can’t say that they oppose a unilateral pullout".
