[IMRA: The fundamental difference between withdrawal within the framework of
the Road Map and Olmert's proposed retreat is that Israel wants to retreat
while leaving open the question as to what happens in the void the retreat
creates.

It would appear that the "solution" the Olmert team is working on is to
strip the Road Map of any requirement for Palestinian compliance.

This way Israel will retreat and face a sovereign entity filling the void -
with all the Palestinian terror infrastructure intact. ready for the next
round of war.

"Israel would retain security control over the Jordan Valley" is the same
wording that PM Sharon's team first used to describe the original Gaza
retreat plan for controlling the Philadelphi Corridor after the retreat.
Ultimately Israel never held the line. ]

PM drafting alternative to convergence plan
By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent 13 June 2006
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/726015.html

In light of the international opposition to further unilateral steps by
Israel, the government has begun to draft an alternative plan that would
essentially convert Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unilateral convergence plan
into a bilateral move carried out in conjunction with Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the plan now being drafted by the Prime Minister's Office and
the Foreign Ministry, Israel would propose to Abbas that they reach an
agreement to establish a Palestinian state with provisional borders in Gaza
plus about 90 percent of the West Bank. The provisional border in the West
Bank would match the route of the separation fence, with one exception:
Israel would retain security control over the Jordan Valley.

In this way, Israel hopes to present the convergence plan as an
implementation of Phase II of the road map peace plan, thereby acceding to
the demands of the United States, Jordan, Egypt and others that Israel
resume negotiations with the PA under the road map.

Under this proposal, the parties would proceed to Phase II without waiting
for the completion of Phase I, which calls for dismantling the terrorist
infrastructure.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni confirmed to Haaretz that she told senior
ministry officials last week that "currently, Abbas is not a partner for a
final-status agreement, but he could be a partner for other arrangements, on
the basis of the road map's phased process."

One participant in this meeting said that Livni spoke explicitly about an
agreement to establish a Palestinian state with provisional borders. Phase
II of the road map presents the "option" of an independent Palestinian state
with provisional borders, "as a way station to a permanent status
settlement."

Prior to Hamas's rise to power in the PA, Abbas rejected the idea of a state
with provisional borders, demanding immediate talks on a final-status
agreement instead.

However, Washington backed Israel's stance in favor of a provisional state,
and Jerusalem expects that the U.S. will pressure Abbas to change his
position.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has decided to reexamine the route
of the fence, especially around Jerusalem, in order to reduce both damage to
Palestinian property and the project's costs.

European Union envoy Mark Otte has also proposed evacuating isolated
settlements in coordination with the PA, while giving the PA international
guarantees that the border set by Israel will not be the final border. In an
interview with Haaretz, he suggested putting the Jordan-West Bank border
under European supervision, as was done with the Gaza-Egypt border, opening
the Gaza port, and instituting a "safe passage" between Gaza and the West
Bank. Otte said that Israel could bypass Hamas and implement this program in
conjunction with Abbas, thereby bolstering his status.