Defense Minister Amir Peretz presented the Labor Party faction Monday with a new diplomatic initiative that calls for final status negotiations with the Palestinians to begin within six months.

The proposal, which the Labor chairman termed "the new road map," was also signed by Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh.

Peretz's plan combines the Saudi peace initiative and the so-called road map for Middle East peace, and includes three stages. In the first stage, which would last six months, a new security and economic policy would be formulated. This would include the release of captured Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, the evacuation of unauthorized West Bank settlement outposts, and the stabilization of the cease-fire.

	Advertisement

In the second stage, which would also last six months, would be comprised of negotiations on final status principles and the expansion of Palestinian sovereignty.

The third stage would consist of negotiations on the details of the final status agreement, and would last 18 months.

Peretz would negotiate only with Palestinian moderates, like Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying his plan would strengthen them by offering "a diplomatic option."

The beleagured Labor Party chairman's new diplomatic initiative comes as he faces the prospect of a stiff challenge from former prime minister Ehud Barak, who announced his return to politics Sunday.

Labor MK Ami Ayalon, who is also running against Peretz in the party primaries scheduled for May 2007, criticized the proposal, saying he prefers Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's (Kadima) diplomatic initiative.

"This is not a good plan," said Ayalon. "The phased plan has already been proven to be a failed plan. The foreign minister presented a draft of a diplomatic plan that I like more."

MK Ophir Pines-Paz, himself a contender for the party chairmanship, told Peretz during the meeting: "Before you present a new diplomatic plan maybe you should implement old plans."

"You and I appeared in a press conference during the elections and promised the removal of outposts," Pines-Paz continued. "Not only did we not remove [any], but in Amona 20 more houses have been added. Who will buy diplomatic plans from us when we don't keep [our] promises?"

"This is an obsolete and conservative plan that does not take into account the dramatic changes due to the Iranian threat, the second Lebanon war and the Palestinian complexity," said Pines-Paz.

Peretz responded: "We promised the removal of outposts within one year, and a year has not yet passed." To this, Pines-Paz said: "You have four more months."

MK Danny Yatom, who is also running for the party chairmanship, called the plan virtual and unrealistic, saying it was intended "solely for political [purposes]." According to Yatom, Israel cannot negotiate on the principles of a final status accord so long as the Palestinian Authority has two heads - Hamas and Fatah.

Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog and Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon, who have declared their support for Barak, praised Peretz's plan. According to Herzog, the plan can serve as the basis for a discussion on the party's diplomatic platform.

Several opposition members joined Peretz's opponents in accusing the defense minister of a political maneuver. According to Likud MK Dan Naveh, "The government is presenting so many diplomatic plans, that every minister presents his own plan and proves once again that the government has no path and there is no real plan to extricate Israel from its problems."

The road map for Middle East peace, authored by the "Quartet" - the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations - likewise calls for a three-stage peace process.

According to that proposal, however, the the first stage would involve an end to violence along with Israeli confidence-building measures, the second stage would see the creation of a Palestinian state on provisional borders, and the final status issues would be deferred to the third stage.

Peretz has also expressed support in recent months for resuming peace negotiations with Syria, should conditions allow it.