JERUSALEM, Aug. 18, 2006
West Bank Pullout On Hold
Israel Says Withdrawal Plans No Longer Priority; UN Force's Future Also Uncertain
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An Israeli soldier returns from Lebanon, Aug. 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
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A broken mirror is seen in an apartment destroyed in Israeli bombardment is seen Aug. 17, 2006, in an apartment destroyed during Israeli bombardment in the suburbs of Beirut. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
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An Israeli soldier during a search in Nablus, the West Bank, in April. (AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
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A Lebanese man cries after seeing coffins of his relatives who were killed during the month-long Israel-Hezbollah war, in Tyre, Aug. 18, 2006. (AP Photo/Sergey Ponomarev)
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The Haaretz daily said Olmert told Cabinet ministers this week that in light of the Israel-Hezbollah war, the pullout was no longer his top priority.
"This is what the prime minister said," Olmert aide Asaf Shariv said, referring to the Haaretz newspaper report. "Right now, we will deal with other issues. It's not that it (the pullout) was canceled, but it is not on the agenda."
In other developments:
Olmert was elected on a platform of getting Israel out of most of the West Bank, reports Berger, but after Israel's war with Hezbollah it's no longer on the top of the agenda. Support in Israel for unilateral moves is dwindling after troops waged war this summer in Lebanon and Gaza, territories Israel left on its own, without a peace deal. Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that a West Bank pullout will bring rockets on Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"Right now, we will put our efforts and focus on other things," Shariv said.
Housing Minister Meir Shetreet said he also believed the pullout was being frozen. "It is my assessment the prime minister will not deal with this (the West Bank pullout) in the coming period, because it's really not on the agenda," told Israel Army Radio.
"I cannot say that the prime minister has dropped the plan. I don't think he has reached such a conclusion," said Shetreet, who opposes a unilateral pullout and favors trying to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians. Shetreet is a member of Olmert's Kadima Party.
The U.N. force's composition is for the U.N. and the Lebanese government to decide, not Israel, Syed Hamid said.
A fragile cease-fire remains in place between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in the days since it was declared.
On Thursday, the United Nations got pledges of 3,500 troops for the force, with Bangladesh — another OIC member — making the largest offer of up to 2,000 troops.
There remains no firm date for the deployment of peacekeepers.
The U.N. cease-fire resolution called for the force to keep the peace and disarm Hezbollah fighters south of the Litani River.
However, the Lebanese government adopted a mandate Wednesday that requires confiscation of Hezbollah arms only if carried in public. It said nothing about the network of Hezbollah rocket bunkers across the 18-mile stretch between the river and the Israeli border.
Israel is disappointed that the force has no intention of disarming Hezbollah, reports Berger, and that's why many Israelis are convinced that the next war is just a matter of time.
At least 845 Lebanese were killed in the 34-day war: 743 civilians, 34 soldiers and 68 Hezbollah. Israel says it killed about 530 guerrillas. On the Israeli side, 157 were killed — 118 soldiers and 39 civilians, many from the 3,970 Hezbollah rocket strikes. The figures were compiled by The Associated Press, mostly from government officials on both sides.
©MMVI CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- Did anyone really expect either the French or Hezbollah to keep their word?? Next time Isreal will need to ignore the international community and just do what need to be done. Peace usuall only comes through a decisive victory.
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- The cost of supporting a war between supremacist zionist, as well as supremacist moslems by supremacist cultic groups in charge of our government could easily be ended by stopping any of our much needed taxpayers money from subsidizing this madness! Stop the subsidy of warring supremacists. they make hitler look good by comparison.
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- Wow, looky, looky, looky the French are sending 400 troops to Lebanon, now isn't that just wonderful. They can't defend themselves let alone try to keep the piece in Lebanon. I don't think that they have ever successfully completed a war. If they want peace in Lebanon they better send in a force that does not have their hands tied with rules of engagement. They need to be able to punish which ever side breaks the peace and punish them hard, thats the only way that the people that are involved in this understand.
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Best-selling author Mitch Albom on his first nonfiction work since "Tuesdays with Morrie."
