New Israeli Government

…After Olmert forges a coalition, he is expected to push ahead with his plan of withdrawing from most of the West Bank, which is within rocket-firing range of Jerusalem and which military strategists long have estimated Israel must maintain to defend its borders from any ground invasion.

Last week, just days before the elections, the Kadima Party revealed it would divide Jerusalem and allow a Palestinian state to be established in parts of Israel’s “eternal capital.”

“The Old City, Mount Scopus, the Mount of Olives, the City of David, Sheikh Jarra will remain in our hands, but [regarding] Kafr Akeb, Abu-Ram, Shuafat, Hizma, Abu-Zaim, Abu-Tur, Abu Dis, in the future, when the Palestinian state is established, they will become its capital,” said Otniel Schneller, a Kadima member who represented the party at an official debate last week on dividing Jerusalem.

The revelation followed months of denials by top Kadima officials that the party would advocate withdrawing from Jerusalem. The neighborhoods Schneller listed are located on Jerusalem’s periphery, near the city’s border with the West Bank.

Kadima’s claims last week of “only” withdrawing from peripheral sections of Jerusalem worry many here. The Israeli government has denied previous withdrawal plans only to carry them out later, followed by announcements of more withdrawals in larger magnitudes from areas it pledged not to vacate.

Since the Jews are unilaterally giving up residency just about everywhere in the holy land, I suppose they could relocate to Uganda…