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Peace Process

Olmert shelves 'realignment' plan


By The Jerusalem Post
September 04, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday officially shelved his plan to uproot most Jewish communities from Judea and Samaria, calling the so-called "realignment" plan "no longer relevant."

Olmert was speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where participants quoted him as saying:

"What I saw as right several months ago has changed now. The order of priorities of the government has changed since the war in Lebanon."

The prime minister did, however, stress that Israel has "no more urgent problem than that of the Palestinians," and that some solution must be found.

Top security officials have warned recently that Hamas-controlled Gaza is on the verge of becoming as big a problem as southern Lebanon was two months ago, with local terror groups importing large quantities of surface-to-surface short-range missiles and anti-tank weapons.

Meanwhile, a spokeswomen for the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria was unimpressed with Olmert's pronouncement, predicting that unilateral withdrawal would again top the agenda in a few short months.

Emily Amrusi told The Jerusalem Post:

"Olmert is still a shortsighted leader who is devoid of logic. He has not changed overnight."

In a related development, the government Monday began accepting bids for the construction of nearly 700 new homes in the Judean towns of Ma'aleh Adumim and Beitar Illit.

The new construction will represent the largest settlement construction project yet under the Olmert government.

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