The new political agenda of the Labor party in Israel is topped by a call for a unified Jerusalem as the eternal capital of Israel, thus rejecting any negotiations on the occupied east Jerusalem, in addition to retaining settlement blocks in the West Bank, and rejecting any talks with Hamas.
An Israeli source reported that Labor Party Chair Amir Peretz’s diplomatic team is formulating a platform calling for the long-term leasing of large West Bank settlement blocs from the Palestinian Authority, adopting the model of Great Britain and China with regard to Hong Kong.
The team which is formulating the plan includes former Foreign Ministry director general David Kimche, former minister Uzi Bar-Am, MK Yuli Tamir, Dalia Rabin, former Foreign Ministry official Avi Primor, and former consul-general in New York Alon Pinkas, will unveil the platform in the upcoming weeks, Israeli online daily Haaretz reported.
The platform’s "Hong Kong principle" refers to the agreement between Great Britain and China in 1898, according to which Great Britain leased the islands of Hong Kong for 99 years. When the lease ended in 1997, China took back the islands with a pledge to preserve their democracy.
Israel intends, according to the plan, to maintain control over the large settlement blocs in the West Bank, in exchange for financial or territorial compensation which will be paid to the P.A; these blocs include Ma’ale Adumim, Gush Etzion and Ariel.
Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of Israel, but Israel “will allow reconsideration of the status of Palestinians areas around the City, by means municipal boundaries.
The plan includes dismantling dozens of illegal settlement outpost which are installed in several West Bank areas.
Also, according to the plan, Israel should decide on a timetable for the final status negotiations with the Palestinians, but will reject temporal solutions or a temporal Palestinian state.
A timetable will be set for final-status talks with the Palestinians, and will not include an interim agreement or a temporary Palestinian state.
Peretz believes that a “conditional” Palestinian State is not the right solution to the conflict, adding that a conditional state means that the “violence will continue”.
Israel will not carry unilateral solutions, according to the platform, but “if negotiations with the Palestinians were to fail, Israel would consider conducting unilateral procedures.
The platform calls for accepting to hold talks with any elected Palestinian government, but not with Hamas even if it was elected.
