Israel Denies Plan to Offer 90% of West Bank to Palestinians

Report Would Have Led to Evacuation of 50,000 Settlers

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office today rejected media reports that they plan to offer 90% of the West Bank to the Palestinians in direct negotiations, calling the reports “unfouned.”

According to the report, first leaked by a London-based Arabic language newspaper, the offer would have come in the form of a long-term interim agreement and could have led to the evacuation of some 50,000 Israeli settlers from the region. The 90% figure was said to have not included East Jerusalem.

But East Jerusalem aside, the 90% offer would have been a major upgrade from previous reports, which had Netanyahu standing firm at allowing the Palestinians to keep only 60% of the occupied territories.

The 90% figure would have almost certainly sparked a revolt among his parliamentary allies however, as well as a number of figures in his own party. Netanyahu’s government consists largely of extremely pro-settler blocs, and many of them have objected to the idea of peace talks in principle, let alone an actual deal.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.