Olmert: `“Israel will never agree to total pullout from occupied West Bank`

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that will never agree to pull out of all of the occupied West Bank, and claimed that the borders that existed before occupied the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War could not be defended.

The statements of Olmert came as he was speaking to lawmakers at ‘s Parliament.

He added that is planning to withdraw from approximately 90% of the West Bank, leaving the large settlement blocks under Israeli control. 

"We’ll never agree to pull out of all of the territories, because the borders of 1967 are indefensible," he stated.

According to Israeli sources, in light of international opposition to further unilateral steps has begun to draft an alternative plan that would essentially convert Olmert’s unilateral convergence plan into a bilateral move carried out in concurrence with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The sources added that according to the plan now being drafted by Olmert’s Office and Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Israel would propose to Abbas that they reach an agreement to establish a Palestinian state with provisional borders in Gaza plus about 90 percent of the West Bank.

But the borders of the Palestinian State are not the borders on the occupied territories since 1967. The plan intends to make ‘s annexation Wall deeply rooted in the West Bank, isolating the Palestinian areas and separating the residents from their orchards, as the final borders of Palestine.

is hoping that the convergence plan would be seen as an implementation of phase II of the Road Map Plan backed by the .

‘s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni confirmed to the Israeli Newspaper Haaretz that she told senior ministry officials last week that Abbas is not considered a partner for a final-status agreement, but “he could be a partner for other arrangements, on the basis of the road map’s phased process."

Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Minister, Amir Peretz, said that he has decided to reexamine the route of the annexation Wall, especially around Jerusalem, in order to reduce both damage to Palestinian property and the project’s costs.

The completed sections of the Wall are isolating residents in several area and barring them from reaching basic facilities, such as hospitals and educational institutions.

European Union envoy Mark Otte has also proposed evacuating isolated settlements in coordination with the PA, while giving the PA international guarantees that the border set by will not be the final border. But, the concrete 30 feet Wall is determining other facts on the ground.

Otte suggested in an interview with Haaretz that the Jordan-West Bank border should be out under European supervision, as was done with the Gaza-Egypt border, opening the Gaza port, and instituting a "safe passage" between Gaza and the West Bank.

He added that could implement this program by direct talks with the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, without having to hold any talks with the Hamas-led Palestinian government.