Former defense officials set to propose peace initiative

'NY Times': The "Israeli Peace Initiative" calls for the creation of a Palestinian state on '67 borders, Israeli withdrawal from Golan.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
peace (photo credit: marc israel sellem)
peace
(photo credit: marc israel sellem)
A group of prominent former members of the defense establishment, including former heads of the Mossad and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) are set to present an initiative for peace with the Arab world this week, The New York Times reported on Monday.
The two-page "Israeli Peace Initiative" is a direct response to the Arab Peace Initiative, originally issued by the Arab League in 2002. The new two-page document is also partially inspired by the current popular uprisings in the Arab world.
RELATED:Opinion: The Arab Peace Initiative is our best shot at peace
The plan calls for a Palestinian state comprised of most of the West Bank and Gaza with east Jerusalem as its capital. The initiative also calls for an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
"The borders shall be based on the June 4, 1967, lines, with agreed modifications subject to the following principles: the creation of territorial contiguity between the Palestinian territories; land swaps (not to exceed 7% of the West Bank) based on a 1:1 ratio, including the provision of a safe corridor between the West Bank and Gaza, under de facto Palestinian control." The initiative is set to be officialy unveiled in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, however former Shin Bet head Yaakov Perry said that a copy had already been sent to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. "We are isolated internationally and seen to be against peace,”  Perry told the New York Times. “I hope this will make a small contribution to pushing our prime minister forward. It is about time that Israel initiates something on peace,”  he added. The group of 40 who signed the initiative are all to the left of Netanyahu politically, according to the Times.
In addition to Perry, the Times lists former Mossad chief Danny Yotam and the son and daughter of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin as part of the group which signed the initiative.