Proposal: Evacuate 20,000 settlers
Major General Uzi Dayan says 32 West Bank settlements should be removed to complement disengagement, adds concept of Greater Israel has collapsed
The proposed plan would complement the disengagement plan, which Dayan qualified as "a step in the right direction, but not enough."
According to Dayan’s plan, Israel will evacuate 32 settlements and about 20,000 settlers, including Mevo Dotan, Yitzhar, Hermesh, Elon Moreh, Itamar and other settlements. Israel will redeploy on a temporary borderline that will include the large settlement blocs, Gush Etzion, Ariel and Ma'ale Adumim.
The borderline will also include Ofra, Beit El, Qiryta Arba and the surroundings of Jerusalem. Other areas that will be included within the borderline are the territory south of highway 443, the Jordan Valley, and parts of the Judea Desert.
Under the scheme, Jerusalem would not be divided, and Dayan suggests it remain the capital of Israel, with religious freedom to all faiths.
At a press conference in Tel Aviv, Dayan explained that the withdrawal from Gaza brought on the collapse of two fundamental concepts in Israeli politics.
"It eliminated the concept of a Greater Israel, as well as that of territories in exchange for peace. Both concepts have proven to be bankrupt."
Israel needs a whole new conception, said Dayan, a “blue and white” Road Map that will lead the country forward and will not hide under vague statements and slogans of "painful concessions."
"I don't understand what painful concessions are, I know what a road map and a plan are. In the coming elections we intend to promote this plan and we will cooperate with anyone who supports it,” he said.
‘Demography is national security’
Dayan said the plan would cost about USD 3.5 billion, but stressed it includes some inherent benefits.
"The evacuation will work to support the Negev, The Galilee and Jerusalem, as well as other places we wish to hold on to, like Gush Etzion," he said.
"An Israel without Gaza and Nablus will be stronger. This will preserve our national essence, eliminate our control over another people and create a starting point for coexistence," Dayan said.
"This borderline will serve Israel better from a security standpoint, and will constitute a continuation of the Israel initiative," Dayan said. "A state without a border is never free to handle its main concerns, such as education, employment, and the development of the south and north."
Dayan doubts a permanent settlement with the Palestinians can be reached, and said Israel should consider the temporary line he offers as a full fledged borderline.
In the past, while he headed the National Security Agency, Dayan presented Sharon with a plan for a unilateral disengagement, and proposed the erection a security fence in the West Bank. Sharon had then ignored the plan, but eventually integrated most of its principles into the disengagement that was carried out recently.
Dayan said that in his first meeting with Sharon in 2002, the prime minister told him: I hear you are interested in demography. What has demography got to do with national security?
Dayan said that he wanted to respond by using the famous American election campaign slogan, "It’s the demography, stupid," but being polite he merely replied that "demography is national security."
