Mofaz meeting with ambassadors of Turkey, Jordan, Egypt to push plan

MK Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) is slated to meet with the ambassadors of Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Russia in the next few days, signaling a rise in international interest in the former defense minister's proposal for establishing a Palestinian state.

The meetings are expected to take place before Mofaz heads to the United States on Tuesday, to bring his proposal to Obama administration officials, think tanks and representatives of European countries. Mofaz presented his plan to the American ambassador in Israel on Monday.

The proposal calls for a Palestinian state with provisional borders, to be established on 60 percent of the West Bank within a year. According to the plan, there is no need to uproot settlers in the first stage of the state's establishment, but Israel would commit to moving some 70,000 residents of isolated settlements to West Bank settlement blocs or the Galilee.

Mofaz told Ron Nachman, mayor of the West Bank settlement of Ariel, that the settlement blocs would in effect constitute Israel's eastern border. In their meeting yesterday, Nachman said he would study Mofaz's proposal.

Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni has yet to take a position on the plan, but it appears she will have to bring it before the Kadima faction for discussion, as many party MKs are requesting. Mofaz asked the faction leadership last week to discuss the matter, but has received no response.

Opponents of the plan have painted Mofaz, a former Likud member and Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, as a left-winger, for saying he would be willing to negotiate with Hamas. Mofaz has dismissed the characterization as absurd.