Israelis vote, West Bank settlements at stake

By Dean Yates

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israelis voted on Tuesday in an
election seen as a referendum on interim Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert’s plan to impose final borders with the Palestinians at
the cost of uprooting many West Bank Jewish settlements.

Olmert, whose centrist Kadima party is expected to win but
not secure an outright majority, aims unilaterally to dismantle
isolated settlements by 2010 and expand bigger blocs on
occupied land Palestinians want for a state if peacemaking
stays frozen.

Unilateralism appeals to many Israelis worn down by a
five-year-old Palestinian uprising and concerned by the rise to
power of Hamas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after the
Islamist militant group won elections in January.

“I hope we can reach a peace deal with the Palestinians, at
the very least separate ourselves from them. We have no other
choice,” said Hanan Yoran, 43, after voting in Tel Aviv.

Some 20,000 police and volunteers were on patrol to guard
against possible Palestinian bombings on election day.

In southern Israel, two Israeli Arab shepherds were killed
in a suspected rocket attack from Gaza while a Palestinian
militant was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank.

Opinion polls have shown Kadima will win some 34 seats,
enough to form a governing coalition in the 120-member
parliament. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon founded Kadima last
November before he suffered a stroke and went into a coma.

Israelis were voting a day after Hamas presented its
cabinet to the Palestinian parliament for approval, calling for
a “just peace” but showing no sign of softening its stance on
the Jewish state. Hamas is formally sworn to Israel’s
destruction.

Media exit polls will be issued after balloting ends at 10
p.m.

For Olmert, victory would mean approval of “consolidation,”
his term for the go-it-alone steps he plans should Hamas refuse
to recognize Israel, disarm and accept interim peace accords.

The World Court has ruled that all settlements are illegal.
Israel disputes this.

“This is a battle for our homes,” said Eitan Meshulam, a
West Bank settler.

Palestinians condemn Olmert’s proposal, saying it would
destroy any prospects for peace and deny them a viable state by
grabbing land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.

One Hamas official said all major Israeli political parties
were hostile toward the Palestinians.

“We will confront whatever is the result of the election by
uniting against the occupier and against the Israeli aggression
… by all possible means,” said lawmaker Mushir al-Masri.

UPHEAVAL

The trauma for settlers of any withdrawal from land they
see as a biblical birthright could dwarf that of last year’s
Gaza pullout, which Sharon championed in a reversal of policy.

Some 60,000 West Bank settlers could be affected by
Olmert’s plan, far more than the 8,500 removed from Gaza.
Around 240,000 Israelis live among 2.4 million Palestinians in
the West Bank.

Israeli right-wingers say removing more settlements would
reward and encourage Palestinian violence.

Opinion polls published at the close of a lackluster but
high-stakes campaign showed the center-left Labor Party running
second, with about 21 seats, making it a likely coalition
partner for Kadima.

The right-wing Likud party was billed to take some 14
seats.

A new coalition government is likely to include at least
one of several smaller parties.

Turnout by 2 p.m. was 30.9 percent of registered voters, a
low figure but close to recent polls. Analysts say turnout
could be crucial in deciding the shape of a coalition
government.

Olmert’s policy of imposing Israel’s borders on its own
terms ignores an international peace “road map,” which
envisaged a cessation of violence and the start of mutual steps
leading to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a
secure Israel.

Neither side has fulfilled its commitments under the plan
sponsored by the “Quartet” of Middle East mediators — Russia,
the United States, the European Union and the United Nations.

In Khartoum, Arab leaders at an annual summit promoted an
offer of peace with Israel in return for land. They also
rejected unilateralism and called for a return to peace talks
sponsored by the Quartet.

(Additional reporting by Ori Lewis, Allyn Fisher-Ilan,
Megan Goldin and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Tali Caspi in Tel
Aviv and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza)