The leaked versions of the plan keep changing. Originally it was thought to encompass evacuation of all the settlements beyond the route of the security fence - about 60,000 settlers would be evacuated. Then it turned out that the route of the security fence might be moved, and more recently it was leaked that some settlements might remain outside the fence. In all, about 20-30,000 settlers would be moved according to a recent "estimate by Uzi Keren, the Prime Minister's adviser for settlements. Keren claimed that settlements such as Beth El and "even Shiloh" would not necessarily be evacuated. So what, if anything would be evacuated?

In Hebron, a tiny community of extremist settlers are planted in the heart of a large Arab city there. They harass Palestinians and the IDF. Settlers from nearby communities threaten attack Palestinian children on the way to school, so that an IDF escort is required to protect the kids from the settlers. In 1994, it will be remembered, Baruch Goldstein massacred a large number of Palestinians in the Cave of the Patriarchs. Hebron is a focus for Christian Peace Team efforts, and their reports of settler activities there do not bring any credit to Israel. The Hebron settlers are a security liability, a liability to Israel's image abroad, a real cause of suffering to Palestinian Arabs and a point of friction. Any sensible person would understand that this settlement cannot be part of Israel if Olmert's convergence plan is to garner international backing and Palestinian acquiescence. You might guess that Hebron would be evacuated.

Guess again. According to Kadima party MK Otniel Schneller, the Hebron settlement will not be evacuated. Rather, it will be expanded and the Arab inhabitants of Hebron will apparently be evacuated to make room for a large Jewish settlement that will link the Hebron settlement to Qiriat Arba. Here is what Ha'aretz and Associated Press reported:

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, who is helping to formulate Olmert's plan, said that the Jewish neighborhoods of Hebron will be connected to the nearby settlement of Kiryat Arba, and the two communities included in Israel.

"The Jewish neighborhood in Hebron will grow" and be linked to Kiryat Arba, Schneller told The Associated Press. "Hebron and Kiryat Arba are supposed to be part of the Israeli state."

About 500 Jewish settlers live in heavily guarded enclaves in Hebron in the midst of about 170,000 Palestinians. The settlers are among the most ultranationalist in the West Bank.

It is a bizarre report, and it is certain that had it made headlines yesterday, the Bush administration would not even have afforded Olmert's plan the lukewarm reception it got. It seems unlikely that anyone in the Israeli government really thinks that the United States, the EU, Russia or the UN would recognize Israeli annexation of a part of Hebron and eviction of a large number of Arabs from it.

Schneller, it will be remembered, was formerly a member of the Yesha council and is himself a settler. His defection to the new Kadima party amazed many. Now, perhaps, what he had in mind is much clearer. It remains to be seen if this bizarre thinking is really part of the convergence plan, or if Schneller is speaking for himself. However, the plan to link Kiriat Arba and Hebron has a bit of history and was supposedly accepted a while ago under Ariel Sharon.

Shneller may have unwittingly illustrated a fatal flaw in the convergence, realignment or consolidation plan for the West Bank, as it has been variously named. The plan was sold to the Israeli electorate as a way to achieve "permanent" borders for Israel without negotiating with the Palestinians, similar to the Gaza disengagement. The Gaza unilateral disengagement, however, was relatively simple, because, despite the claims of settler advocates, there are no places with deep historical or religious significance to Jews in Gaza. The West Bank is different of course. It includes the old city of Jerusalem, the tomb of Rachel and the tomb of the patriarchs in Hebron. Hebron also has a deep significance in modern Jewish national history. The Hebron Jewish community, which had flourished for hundreds of years, was evicted following bloody riots in 1929 and 1936. The area occupied by the settlers is Jewish land, bought in the time of the Ottoman Empire, from which Jews were dispossessed. The community is therefore a national symbol, and it is easy for right-wing actiivists to rally support for it. Given its location in the midst of an Arab city, however, the modern settlement in Hebron could only be maintained as part of a peace agreement that would guarantee the rights of all sides. It is hard to believe that international bodies or the US would support unilateral Israeli annexation of Hebron and wholesale eviction of Arabs, and just as hard to believe that they would agree to unilateral Israeli annexation of the Wailing Wall and the Temple mount in Jerusalem, or the cave of Rachel in Bethlehem. Without those areas, a unilateral peace plan could not be politically viable in Israel. Therefore, there is probably no way to achieve "permanent" borders by unilateral action, which would mean that the Israeli electorate bought a plan that is an impostor.

Ami Isseroff