Defense Min. sitting on plan to lift W. Bank roadblocks for a year

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 08:10 04/09/2007
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/900649.html

While Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is dragging his feet over his promise to
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to remove roadblocks in the
West Bank - on the ground that the defense establishment is still reviewing
the issue - a plan to reduce the number of internal checkpoints by nearly 50
percent has been lying in the Defense Ministry's inbox for almost a year.

The Shin Bet says it will approve the plan, formulated with input from a
former Israel Defense Forces command chief, West Bank field officers and
several ranks in between, if the IDF decides to adopt it.

American defense officials say the program is in line with Israeli promises
to boost Abbas' status.

The program was prepared by a former Defense Ministry adviser on Palestinian
Affairs, Haggai Alon.

Army commanders consulted on the plan admitted that one-third of the
internal roadblocks in the West Bank are piles of earth whose aim is to
unnecessarily impede the passage of Palestinian vehicles.

Last week it was reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak is considering
replacing many of the permanent checkpoints with mobile ones. This measure
is part of Alon's plan, together with alternatives such as observation
balloons and watchtowers near settlements, as well as other technological
means exported by Israel to the U.S. and to China (for use in the Beijing
Olympics). These measures have been proven to be considerably cheaper than
deploying reserve soldiers at checkpoints and to patrol settlements.

Alon refused on Monday to comment on details of the proposal, but confirmed
that several months ago he had presented "to the appropriate individuals" a
plan that would reduce the number of checkpoints by up to 45 percent and
modify the remainder without affecting the security of Israeli civilians,
including settlers in the West Bank.

"We're not making gestures, since freedom of movement and the improvement of
the economic activity of the Palestinians are Israeli interests," Alon said.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Baruch Spiegel, who until eight months ago was responsible
for examining the checkpoints and outposts, said he hoped that Barak will
adopt the proposal, which he said was drafted with the full cooperation of
the army.

He said the plan presented to Israeli and U.S. officials includes the
construction of pillboxes that could be manned on short notice and employed
as roadblocks.