JERUSALEM - Israeli Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview published Thursday that any Israeli political parties that refuse to accept his plan of withdrawing from parts of the West Bank would not be able to join his coalition government.
Olmert's centrist Kadima Party slid slightly in opinion polls published Thursday, five days ahead of a general election, but still held a commanding lead over other parties.
‘I want to emphasize so that no one doubts it: I intend to implement this plan. Anyone who is not interested in seeing this plan implemented — will not be in my coalition. I do not intend to compromise on the details of the plan. This is the plan and there is no other,’ Olmert said.
Olmert has said that if he is elected he would dismantle most West Bank settlements, fortify remaining settlement blocs and set the nation's borders by 2010. The blueprint is the most detailed proposal for Israel's borders ever presented to voters by an Israeli leader.
Olmert told Channel 10 television on Wednesday that he would wait some time if he is elected before implementing the withdrawal plan to see if Hamas — which swept a January Palestinian parliamentary election — will moderate its militant views and negotiate with Israel.
But if Hamas refuses to recognize Israel, accept past Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements and renounce violence, Israel will move to unilaterally draw its borders, Olmert said.
Kadima was founded by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon weeks before he suffered a massive stroke on Jan. 4 that left him comatose. Olmert stepped into Sharon's position, and is being viewed as his successor.
According to a Dahaf poll published in Yediot Ahronot Thursday, Kadima would get 36 of 120 parliamentary seats in next week's election, down three seats. The left-center Labor Party gained two seats, rising to 21, and the hawkish Likud Party dropped one seat to 14. The survey questioned 1,062 people on Wednesday and has an error margin of 3 percentage points.
In a poll published in the Maariv daily, Kadima would get 37 seats, down two from last week's survey. Labor would garner 21 seats, up one, and Likud would get 14, one less than in the previous poll. The survey of 500 people has an error margin of two seats, Maariv reported.
Olmert's statements indicated that the Labor Party, headed by populist ex-union leader Amir Peretz, would be a natural partner in a Kadima-led coalition. Likud would not likely join such a government as its leader, hawkish former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has already said he is opposed to further West Bank withdrawals.
The dovish Meretz Party could also join a government that plans to withdraw from the West Bank.
Sharon's summer withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements ripped apart the Likud Party he helped establish in the 1970s, but enjoyed broad public support among Israelis. Olmert's plan is meant to be a continuation of that pullout, and a way to separate Israel and the Palestinians.