Israeli defense chief proposes West Bank pullout

JERUSALEM -- Israel's defense minister called for a unilateral pullout from much of the West Bank in published comments Monday, saying Israel must take "practical steps" if peace efforts with the Palestinians remain stalled.

www.ctvnews.ca...

Why now? Under the cover of "steps towards peace", is probably more accurate.

You think they'd want soldiers in the West Bank if an escalation of the Iranian stand-off occurs, or a full on blow out, unless they want to have them cleared incase large targets in the West Bank and want them cleared of any IDF?

Lot's of movement.

reply to post by CALGARIAN


Well I'm certainly no military expert but could it be a sign of re-structuring of military assets given the current situation in the region?

Either way it seems, on the face of it, to be a positive concession for future negotiations to move forward if implemented.

S&F

reply to post by CALGARIAN


If true and they do pull out I would be suprised if Hamas or Hezbol'lah did not take advantage of the pull out.

Oh, and they will also declare another "Victory".

It's 1 year since the failed palestinian bid at the UN for statehood.

Since then nothing evolved. The Israeli gov tried to get the palestinians back at the negociation table by any means, including more threats and blackmail.

The West Bank is a big issue here as the freeze of settlements is an unshakable demand from the palestinians.

This is just propaganda for me, faking intent with illusions of events that will never come to be.

I applaud the sentiment expressed by the IDF Chief, but realistically speaking, I'm not confident that a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank would initiate further peace talks.

Let's not forget that the last time Israel withdrew from occupied territory in Gaza by forcefully removing thousands of Jewish settlers, Hamas siezed control of the territory immediately thereafter and used it as launching pad to fire rockets on Israeli civilians from closer range.

reply to post by CALGARIAN


It is indeed merely a proposal.

Barak's proposal is unlikely to be implemented, at least in the near term. Netanyahu's coalition is dominated by hardliners who would be reluctant to embrace the plan. But Netanyahu is widely expected to call early elections in the coming weeks, and Barak may be trying to attract centrist voters to his party ahead of an upcoming campaign.