By Ryan Jones
Jan 22, 2006
Israeli Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz told the Herzliya Conference Sunday Israel will be watching closely to see if it still has a ?Palestinian? peace partner after this week, but that the nation must be prepared to surrender its biblical heartland either way.
?If we find a legitimate and effective partner, we should move forward according to the Road Map peace plan, while understanding there are stages on the way to a permanent agreement,? Mofaz said of the internationally-backed plan that would see another Arab Muslim state birthed in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
?However,? he continued, ?If it turns out there is no partner, Israel needs to take its destiny into its own hands? and ?establish defensible borders, strengthen settlement blocs, keep Jerusalem undivided, including its surrounding area, and demilitarize the Palestinian territory.?
The vast bulk of the Judean and Samarian hills, where Israel became a nation, would presumably be relinquished.
Mofaz said this policy must be implemented with American support, but Washington has repeatedly refused to publicly guarantee Israel's right to retain the ?settlement blocs,? including eastern Jerusalem, under any final status agreement.
Speaking prior to Mofaz, National Security Advisor Giora Eiland appeared to question the wisdom of solving the current conflict by creating yet another Arab Muslim state that would be almost completely dependent on Israel.
Eiland said the world's haste to create a PLO-controlled state is very problematic for Israel, as that new nation would rely wholly on Israel for its economic survival and infrastructure needs.
He noted that between Israel and a Palestinian Arab state there are forecast to be 30 million people living between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea by the year 2050.
Recent surveys have stated that while current ?Palestinian? population figures are grossly inflated, a sovereign PLO state would be expected to immediately open its doors to millions of so-called ?refugees.?
?This issue raises very problematic questions regarding the distribution of resources in this territory ? from the distribution of air and water to that of land,? Eiland said.
He said the paradigm of a two state solution has been largely taken for granted, but questioned whether it is a stable and viable solution in the long term, suggesting alternative paradigms should be sought.