MK Isaac Herzog proposes that Israel announce immediately that it supports the United Nations resolution to establish a Palestinian state.
Herzog, who is contending for the Labor Party leadership, has recently formulated a new peace plan. According to his plan, whose details Haaretz has obtained, Israel would recognize a Palestinian state whose borders will be set in negotiations between the sides, ratify the Clinton plan, freeze construction beyond the separation fence and enact legislation to compensate settlers wishing to return to within the Green Line.
Herzog’s plan is based on the assumption that in September, Israel could find itself isolated. To prevent this, Herzog proposes recognizing a Palestinian state in advance, while jumpstarting the peace process with it.
The two-state solution would be based on the 1967 borders, with agreed territorial swaps enabling the annexation of large settlement blocs.
“We’ll unite as a nation around a broad consensus about keeping settlement blocs and sacred places under Israeli sovereignty,” Herzog says.
He proposes allowing Palestinian refugees to return only to the Palestinian state and setting up an agreed international committee to manage the Temple Mount, so that the administrational situation remains as is.
