September 3, 2008
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel's government will this weekend debate a plan to compensate West Bank settlers willing to leave their homes as part of a peace deal with the Palestinians, an official statement said Wednesdsay.
However, ministers will not be given an early vote on the plan, which was submitted by deputy prime minister Haim Ramon, the prime minister's office said.
"The prime minister welcomes the government's opinion on the initiative," the press release said.
Under Ramon's plan, settlers would be compensated for relocating from the West Bank to Israeli territory or land that is expected to be annexed under the terms of a potential peace accord with the Palestinians.
The compensation plan has the backing of Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who announced he would step down on September 17 over a graft scandal.
But it has met with opposition from some members of the government, including the two frontrunners to succeed Olmert as head of the centrist Kadima party.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said it was too early to discuss "voluntary evacuation."
"This issue cannot be tackled until the borders (of a future Palestinian state) have been drawn up," Israeli army radio quoted Livni as saying.
Her likely challenger for the party leadership, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, said the project "would only weaken the Israeli government's position in the negotiations to follow. That's why I am opposed to it."
But others, including the minister without portfolio Ami Ayalon and Israel's Peace Now movement, lent their support to the compensation plan.
Olmert, who will remain in power until a new government is created or fresh election held, aims to present a
framework peace agreement with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to the White House before the end of the year,
public radio said.