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| Israel to Draw Border in West Bank Swiftly: Olmert |
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Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would be swift to draw Israel's border in the West Bank, local newspaper the Jerusalem Post reported on Monday. According to the Post, Olmert sent out strong signals at Sunday' s cabinet meeting that he was serious when he said before a March election that he wouldn't "wait forever" for the Palestinians. Before the March 28 election, Olmert said that his so-called "convergence plan" would be implemented if, after a "reasonable period of time" it became clear there was no partner on the Palestinian side. He said at Sunday's meeting that it was already clear there was no Palestinian partner, the Post reported. Olmert was quoted by the Post as saying that following Hamas's justification of last week's suicide attack in Tel Aviv, it was important "that the diplomatic community, foreign ministries and government ministries around the world absorb the fact that there is no partner here with whom it is possible to talk." On April 17, a suicide bombing attack hit the old central bus station in southern Tel Aviv, killing nine civilians and wounding dozens of others. The Hamas government, without condemning the attack, called it "an act of self-defense." The prime minister-designate is expected to form a coalition government with some other parties since his centrist Kadima party, which won the most 29 seats in the next Knesset (parliament), is still short of a majority in the 120-member Knesset. Olmert vowed before the election to set Israel's final borders by 2010 and the new government would be based on his so-called "convergence plan," under which Israel would withdraw isolated settlements in the West Bank but keep bigger ones. (Xinhua News Agency April 25, 2006) |
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