Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has rejected a request by members of the leftist Peace Now movement to dismantle 26 Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
The Peace Now proposal called for the evacuation of 26 of the smallest and most strategically problematic Israeli settlements. The proposal would have affected about 7,000 of the more than 100,000 settlers living in the West Bank.
The group said the settlements had to be evacuated in order for Palestinian self-rule to be extended to West Bank areas.
Peace Now leader Tsali Reshef said after Monday’s meeting that his group had expected Rabin to reject its proposal, but that the issue would continue to be open for discussion. He recalled that Peace Now had urged the Israeli government to open talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization long before it became acceptable, or even legal, in Israel.
Prior to the signing of the Palestinian self-rule accord in September 1993, Israel had a law preventing all contacts with the PLO.
Rabin also reportedly told the group that he did not support a Palestinian state, but would agree to a Palestinian entity existing alongside Israel.
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