Vice premier says paid evacuation to the west of the security barrier will show Israel is serious about peace.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Kadima and Labor must promote the option of "evacuation compensation" for settlers living east of the West Bank security fence, Vice Premier Haim Ramon said on Saturday.
Such a decision would advance negotiations with the Palestinians and prove to the international community and the Palestinians that Israel is serious in pursuing the formation of a Palestinian state, Ramon said.
He explained that "when the right-wing government led by Likud and Shas decided on the route of the security fence, it was effectually deciding that anything beyond it would not be under Israeli control."
Ramon said that while the Right continuously claimed that Israel was giving up its assets, it was in fact only giving up a burden - on Israel's existence as a Jewish and democratic state, and on its status in the international arena.