Israel looks to complete pullout by 2008By RAVI NESSMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERJERUSALEM -- Acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will complete his plan to withdraw from much of the West Bank and draw the country's final borders before the next U.S. presidential election in 2008, a senior Olmert aide said in a published report Monday.
Olmert, whose Kadima Party won last month's parliamentary election, had previously said he aimed to complete his plan by the end of his term in 2010. But Yoram Turbowicz, who is slated to be Olmert's chief of staff, said it needed to be finished while President Bush remained in office, according to the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.
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Olmert has said he wants international legitimacy for the borders he plans to draw, and his allies believe that Bush, who has indicated Israel will likely keep large settlement blocs under any final peace deal, would be amenable to his program.
"We have a very tight timetable, because we seek the support of the U.S. administration and President Bush. It has to be done by November 2008," Turbowicz was quoted as saying.
Turbowicz, who spoke during talks with Kadima's potential coalition partners Sunday, said Israel would not hold a referendum on the plan, according to Yediot.
Eyal Arad, a senior Olmert adviser, denied there was a new timeframe for the plan but said Israel and the U.S. would have to agree on the borders several years before it was finalized.
"Reaching an understanding with the U.S. on the details is very likely to be done by '07, very roughly. But it is not a deadline," Arad said.
Olmert says the withdrawal will improve security and help ensure a Jewish majority in areas under Israeli control.
Olmert has said he preferred to carry out his plan through peace talks with the Palestinians, but would take unilateral action if necessary. The election of the militant Hamas group in January Palestinian parliamentary elections made renewed negotiations on peace unlikely.
