'We will make every effort to explore the possibilities with the Palestinians.' Ramon
Photo: Yossi Rot
Minister: ‘Convergence’ preparations until 2008
Kadima’s Haim Ramon says ‘preparations for convergence plan will be lengthy, but it will be implemented. There is no other option. There is no other way. This is a life-saving surgical procedure’
Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Wednesday “the preparations for the convergence plan will be lengthy and will apparently last until 2008.”
According to Ramon, the preparations for the plan are complex and depend on many factors. However, he added that “the convergence plan will be implemented. There is no other option. There is no other way. This is a life-saving surgical procedure.”
He also said that “anyone who says that on January 1, 2007 we will evacuate the first settlement is mistaken. We will make every effort to explore the possibilities with the Palestinians by the end of the year.”
Ramon continued: “During the first phase, before the legislation of a new Evacuation-Compensation Law, we will have to daft a detailed map of the convergence. We must know which communities will enter which blocs; only then will we be able to talk of evacuation-compensation.
“After we are proven that the Palestinians are indeed not a partner, we will then choose to take unilateral steps –but the road from this to the evacuation of the first settlement is still long,” he said.
Internal talks with West Bank settlers
On Tuesday Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that in the next six months Israel will carry out unilateral steps if it in fact turns out the there is no partner for peace on the Palestinian side. However, a government official said Olmert’s comment did not allude to the launching date of the convergence plan.
According to the official, during the estimated two years until the beginning of the convergence plan’s implementation, Israel will seek international approval for unilateral steps, though it is not at all certain that such an approval will be given.
At the same time, the official said, internal talks with the West Bank settlers will be held, the new Evacuation-Compensation bill will be passed, and the country will prepare to withstand the economic burden expected following the allocation of tens of billions of shekels.
The final phase of preparations will include the construction of homes for the evacuees, either in Israel or in the settlement blocs that will remain under Israeli control.
“2008 has been set as a target date due to the circumstances and because that is when (President George W.) Bush’s term ends, seeing that his administration may back the convergence plan,” the official said.
