Kadima declares Israel must be divided

'Ma'ariv': Policy stipulates that permanent borders will include united J'lem.

By AP, JPOST STAFF
roni bar on 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
roni bar on 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Kadima Party has decided officially to make peace talks with the Palestinians one of its top goals, the Ma'ariv daily reported on Monday. According to recent polls, the centrist party that Sharon formed in November has the best chance of winning March 28 elections. Sharon left the Likud to win a free hand to proceed in peace talks with the Palestinians. "The Kadima Party believes the advancement of the peace process with the Palestinians is a central goal and will act to advance it in every possible way in order to lay the base for drawing permanent borders for the state of Israel and to achieve peace and quiet," according to a Kadima party policy document, the daily reported. Kadima will also act to help form a Palestinian state, Ma'ariv said. MK Roni Bar-on, speaking at a meeting of Kadima activists, supported the declarations in the policy document, saying that Israel's permanent borders "would include a united Jerusalem and the Ariel, Gush Etzion, and Ma'aleh Adumim settlement blocs." Kadima, a party mainly comprised of former Likud members, the report continued, said what the Likud wouldn't: there must be two states. "Finding a solution between the desire to allow any Jew to live anywhere in Israel, and the continued existence of Israel as a national Jewish homeland, necessitates giving up some parts of Israel," the policy document stated.