Israel needs to accept a Palestinian state in United Nations, then negotiate
Israel should recognize a Palestinian state first and then negotiate borders, which should be based on the 1949 armistice lines with land swaps to account for settlement blocs, according to a new diplomatic outline MK Hilik Bar (Zionist Union) presented Monday.
Bar presented what he called “a solid foundation for a final status agreement and end of all claims between us and the Palestinians” to some 450 participants in a conference of the Knesset Caucus to Resolve the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which Bar leads. The gathering included MKs mostly from the Zionist Union, a smattering from Meretz and MK Oren Hazan (Likud).
In the outline Bar distributed to attendees, Bar wrote that the plan “protects Israel’s vital security interests, keeps Jerusalem united, solves the Palestinian refugee problem outside of Israel’s borders, leaves the majority of settlers in their homes, strengthens Israel’s position in the world, and gives Israel a boost in its unflinching war on terrorism.”