Israel accepts timetable for West Bank Palestinian state

ISRAEL’S cabinet narrowly approved a US-backed Middle East peace plan yesterday, accepting for the first time a timetable for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but objecting to significant portions of the plan.

“It was a historic day,” cabinet minister Tsipi Livni said. “It was not an easy vote for a right-wing coalition. Maybe it’s a sign of hope.”

Last month, the Palestinians accepted the three-phase “road map” to peace, which envisions a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by 2005.