MIDDLE EAST: Acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert played one of his strongest election cards yesterday, declaring in interviews to the press that he planned to draw Israel's final borders by 2010 and that Israel would be "separated" from the vast majority of Palestinians
Mr Olmert, whose Kadima (Forward) party leads in the polls but has been slipping in recent weeks, also said he would build in a disputed West Bank area near Jerusalem, despite US objections, and that Israel would hold on to major settlement blocs while ceding isolated settlements in a future withdrawal.
"In four years' time, Israel will be separated from the vast majority of the Palestinian population, within new borders," he told the daily Haaretz newspaper. If elected, Mr Olmert added, he would move decisively to solidify Israel "as a Jewish state, one in which there is a solid and stable Jewish majority, a majority which is not in danger."
With his talk of "permanent borders" and a "Jewish majority," Mr Olmert is tapping into a deep-seated sentiment that has taken root among many Israelis and which made prime minister Ariel Sharon and his decision to pull out of Gaza last year so popular.
Many Israelis have concluded that they cannot continue to control 3½ million Palestinians, especially since within a little more than a decade the Arab population will outstrip the Jewish population in the geographical space between the Jordan river and the Mediterranean Sea.
That will leave Israel in the untenable position of having a Jewish minority ruling over an Arab majority.
But Israelis, following five years of the intifada uprising and the recent election of Hamas, do not believe there is a partner on the Palestinian side with whom it is possible to make peace.
This logic amounts to strong support for unilateral moves, like the withdrawal from Gaza, and has made Kadima, set up by Mr Sharon, the most popular party. In recent weeks, members of Kadima have begun to outline the contours of a unilateral withdrawal in the West Bank.
The acting premier also said that the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank will be "in line with the new course of the permanent border.
"There may be cases in which we move the fence eastward [ into the West Bank], there may be cases in which we move the fence westward [ towards Israel], in line with what we agree upon," he said.
Mr Olmert said he would begin construction in the controversial E-1 area between the largest West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim and Jerusalem.
The US has strongly objected to an Israeli government plan to build 3,500 homes in this area, as part of a plan to link Ma'aleh Adumim to Jerusalem.
The Palestinians also strongly oppose the move, saying it would sever the territorial contiguity of a future state they hope to establish. "It's entirely clear that the [ territorial] continuity between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim will be a built-up continuity. This is clear both to the Palestinians and to the Americans. In my view, there is an absolute consensus in Israel on this issue," Mr Olmert told Haaretz.
In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Mr Olmert said that if he won the election, he would not immediately take unilateral measures but would first examine whether a Hamas-led Palestinian Authority is ready to recognise Israel, disarm and accept previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We will wait, but I don't intend to wait forever," he said. "If after a reasonable time passes it becomes clear that the PA is not willing to accept these principles, we will need to begin to act."