Israel's Channel 2: Olmert offers 98.1 per cent of West Bank to Palestinians

According to a news report on Israel's Channel 2 last night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would be willing to transfer 98.1% of the West Bank to the Palestinians in a future peace deal. This figure was reported before a scheduled meeting between PM Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, which is set to take place on Tuesday. PM Olmert's office did not comment on the news clip, saying that there have been various media reports published the last few months regarding figures surrounding the talks.

The news report elaborated that Abbas has asked for Israel to return the settlement areas around Jerusalem, including Ma'aleh Adumim and Givat Ze'ev, while Israel has insisted it will keep the these larger settlement blocs. According to the news report, the future of Jerusalem had not been discussed by the two parties, while PM Olmert had agreed to the return of 5,000 Palestinian refugees to Israel over a five-year period.

Meanwhile, over the weekend, PA Chairman Abbas and Israeli Vice Prime Minister Haim Ramon expressed scepticism about the success of the peace talks. In an interview with Haaretz, Abbas said that so far there had been no achievement in the negotiations. "I cannot say there has been an agreement on a single issue. The gap between the sides is very large," he said. Ramon, in a briefing to reporters yesterday, said that he was not optimistic that a final status agreement will be reached by the end of this year or even next year. However, he said that what was clear is that the future of settlements east of the security fence would not be under Israeli sovereignty, and he went on to propose a financial incentive bill for West Bank settlers to leave their homes.

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