Wednesday, August 16, 2006

West Bank "pullout" may be next casualty

One of the many casualties of the war in Lebanon will almost certainly be the Israeli government's plans to withdraw unilaterally from the West Bank.

Ehud Olmert's government has been weakened by intense criticism of its handling of the war and is in no position to force through its controversial "realignment policy" of unilateral withdrawal from Palestinian territory.

Hizbullah's unleashing of thousands of rockets from a border strip in Lebanon vacated six years ago by Israeli forces, coming soon after Hamas's use of rockets from the Gaza Strip, has created a political backlash against withdrawal.

Mr Olmert's hopes of pursuing his realignment policy appeared to have been delivered a fatal blow yesterday, with the leak of a government-appointed panel's report on its consequences. According to Ha'aretz newspaper, the committee found that a withdrawal would leave cities such as Tel Aviv vulnerable to rocket attacks from the West Bank.

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