Crunch election will set seal on the new shape of Israel

The Observer is carrying a story this morning about the upcoming Israeli elections and about how so much Israeli press attention has been focused on Hill E1.

The deal being offered by Kadima - which is likely to win the largest number of seats - is simple: withdrawal from large areas of the West Bank behind a new, self-determined border in exchange for the annexation of large settlement blocks. That package includes the development of Hill E1 - and with it the end of the Palestinian dream of a joined-up state on the West Bank.

Several things bother me about this. Whilst, on the surface, any idea of Israeli withdrawal from Occcupied Territories is to be welcomed; it is worrying that this withdrawal is to be done unilaterally, with no negotiation with the Palestinians.

Israel's plan now, having accepted that even the US will not condone it holding on to the West Bank and Gaza, seems to be that it alone will determine the future size and scale of any Palestinian state, with no input from the Palestinians.

That's a recipe for disaster. And it won't end the violence.

Any solution has to be negotiated. You can't IMPOSE peace.

And why is this story, "Crunch election will set seal on the new shape of Israel" seen solely in terms of the future shape of Israel? When the intention of the Israelis is actually to limit the size and scale of any future state of Palestine.

Click on the title for the Observer piece.

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