Haim Ramon reportedly offered the Palestinians most of the West Bank, parts of eastern Jerusalem, and land swaps from Israel.
Ramon, the deputy Israeli prime minister who is close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, met recently with Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, Israel’s daily Yediot Acharonot reported Friday.
The two discussed the outlines of a declaration of principles ahead of a November peace summit to be convened by the Bush administration.
Israel would retain the portions of the West Bank west of the security barrier that runs through the West Bank, according to the report, and the Palestinians would get Israeli land as compensation – likely in the form of a land corridor between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians would get Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods, and the sensitive Old City areas would be under religious authority with no national flags visible. Palestinian refugees would not be allowed to return to Israel.
The Associated Press reported that neither side had comment on the reported plan.
