BICOM

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid yesterday outlined a plan for separation and an eventual peace agreement with the Palestinians. He also said that any Israeli annexation of West Bank land would precipitate the government’s collapse.

Speaking on a panel of party political leaders at the annual Herzliya Conference, a leading policy gathering, Lapid said set out a three-stage plan. The first “preparation” stage would see Israel withdraw from uninhabited West Bank areas, followed by a “confidence-building” stage in which Israel would evacuate isolated settlements while guaranteeing security arrangements with the United States. The third and final stage would see negotiations with the Palestinians over permanent borders and other core issues.

Lapid’s suggestion comes as several Israeli leaders mull the prospect of next steps following the suspension of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in April. Makor Rishon reported last week that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a key Knesset committee that a “separation” between Israel and the Palestinians is necessary.

Meanwhile, speaking on the same panel as Lapid, Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett reiterated his suggestion of enhanced Palestinian self-government in the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, while Israel should formerly annex the areas of the West Bank under its control. He said that this should begin with the Gush Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, considered an area likely to remain part of Israel under any peace deal. However, Lapid warned that, “If there is an attempt to annex even one settlement unilaterally, Yesh Atid won’t just pull out of the coalition, it will topple it.” The current coalition would not have a majority without Yesh Atid’s 19 MKs. Hatnuah leader Tzipi Livni, Israel’s chief peace negotiator concurred during the session that her faction would also resign in such a scenario.

Meanwhile, Labour leader Isaac Herzog, also on the panel, criticised Lapid for only now outlining a plan for peace, having provided political cover for the government to oversee the collapse of peace talks.  Herzog outlined his own proposals, under which Israel would lay out the blueprint for a deal based on the 1967 lines, with territorial swaps and the sharing of Jerusalem. Whilst negotiating based on this proposal, Israel would freeze building in isolated settlements, complete the security fence and pass a law compensating those living in isolated settlements for leaving their homes.