Arab Peace Initiative still Israel's best option

June 6 marks the 10th anniversary of the Ariel Sharon government's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip — a move better known by the euphemistic term "unilateral disengagement." Even though this move portrayed the Palestinian "Oslo camp" as an empty vessel and thus contributed to the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, the idea of unilateralism is back on the scene. Even former Minister Yossi Beilin, one of the architects of the Oslo Accord and former chairman of the Meretz Party, recommended establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank within temporary borders, by excluding the issues of the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and the solution of the refugee problem.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas rejected several times in diplomatic channels and even publicly the option of a state within interim borders. Hence, a plan that includes delineating an interim border not based on the 1967 lines, including in Jerusalem, agreed upon land swaps and the resolution of the refugees' problem, can only be implemented through a unilateral move. This is even more true now, with the swearing-in of the new Palestinian government, in which Hamas takes part.

Ami Ayalon, former head of the Shin Bet and a former Labor Party government minister, who with professor Sari Nusseibeh formulated principles for a peace agreement, has in recent years been urging the Israeli government to "take its fate into its hands" and adopt "independent, constructive and unconditional moves." Together with Gilad Sher, who headed Prime Minister Ehud Barak's negotiating team, and high-tech entrepreneur Orni Petrushka, Ayalon heads the "Blue White Future" movement that suggests Israel withdraw unilaterally to the line of the separation fence. They assume the Palestinian side will agree to cooperate with such a move.

Knesset member Omer Bar-Lev of the Labor Party is promoting a plan for unilateral withdrawal from 40% of the West Bank, which would require the evacuation of no more than 35,000 settlers. According to his plan, Israel will continue to control all the areas surrounding the Palestinian enclave that is formed and the airspace above. Amos Yadlin, who served as director of military intelligence and heads the Institute for National Security Studies, recently launched a plan designed to extricate Israel from the diplomatic stalemate, the main thrust of which is “to take independent steps to draw the borders of the State of Israel and improve its position in negotiations for an overall agreement with the Palestinians.”