Israeli govt determined to set borders by 2010

Israel's new government was to take office today, bringing incoming prime minister Ehud Olmert a step closer to implementing his plan of withdrawing from parts of the West Bank and drawing Israel's borders by 2010.

The plan, which would leave Israel with three main blocs of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, is to be carried out unilaterally if the Hamas-led Palestinian government refuses to recognise Israel, accept past peace agreements and renounce violence – conditions Israel has set for talking to the militant Islamic group.

Palestinian prime minister Ismail Haniyeh has rejected Olmert’s unilateral plans, but negotiations appear unlikely with Hamas rejecting Israel’s conditions, which are backed by the United States and other Western countries.

“We are in favour of any Israeli withdrawal,” Haniyeh said yesterday. “If they are going to leave our land, we are not going to run after them and ask them to come back. This does not mean we are going to accept a de facto policy.”

Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party won a March election, but does not have enough seats in parliament to rule alone. Olmert’s new coalition will include 67 of the 120 members of the Israeli parliament, and is to be sworn in this evening after a debate and a vote of confidence.

Olmert has pledged to implement his so-called “convergence plan” within four years, but the inclusion of the hawkish, ultra-Orthodox Shas party in the coalition means the future prime minister could find himself with a thin majority in support of the pull-out.

Shas will likely resign from the government once the issue of the withdrawal is brought to a vote in the Cabinet or parliament, said Hanan Crystal, a political analyst. But Olmert will still be able to get the plan passed because the dovish Meretz Party will support it and the Arab parties are expected to abstain, giving him a 60-50 majority, he said.

Avigdor Yitzhaki, a politician in Olmert’s Kadima Party who is to be chairman of the coalition, said negotiations with other parties, including Meretz and the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, are ongoing. The government will broaden in the coming weeks, he said.

“The minute there is the convergence plan there will be those that will support it, if not actively, then passively,” Yitzhaki told Israel’s Army Radio. “The convergence plan has a majority in Israel’s parliament today.”

In Gaza yesterday, Haniyeh charged that the US was blocking the transfer of money to Palestinian Authority accounts, cash needed to pay 165,000 public sector workers.

Reflecting Hamas’ frustration over the empty coffers and its inability to bypass the international sanctions, Haniyeh told a news conference that the Hamas-led government has raised money, but so far has not found a way to get it into the Palestinian areas.

“We have given alternative suggestions and plans, including what has been reported about sending the lists of the employees to the Arab League to have a direct transfer to their accounts,” Haniyeh said, but “we even faced American pressure to prevent the direct transfer.”

Haniyeh appealed to Arab leaders to face up to the Americans “to stop the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and to stop the political blackmail against the government.” He also called on Palestinian bankers to “show the necessary patriotism”.

Banks have refused to handle funds for the Palestinian Authority for fear of US sanctions.

The government is the largest employer in the Palestinian areas, and the tardy salaries have caused widespread hardship. Salaries for March were not paid and April payments are overdue.

In the past, the West has donated much of the annual foreign aid that makes up much of the Palestinian budget. Now the West has said it will fund only humanitarian projects without going through the Palestinian government.

Israel has also halted the transfer of taxes it collects for the Palestinian Authority, money that has often made up a large part of the funds used to pay government employees.