triguing are the questions of
where the "separation line" will
run and what its political impact
will be.
Clearly, any line incorporating
all 129 settlements in the West
Bank would be so tortuous that
the troops patrolling it might lose
sight of which side of it they were
on. Various observers have spec-
ulated — especially after the de-
cision to continue building in
"Greater Jerusalem" — that the
line might well run parallel to the
old 1967 border, embracing the
larger bedroom suburbs built just
over the Green Line. Wherever
the security line ultimately runs,
one must ask what the govern-
ment has in mind for the settlers
living on the "wrong" side of it.
Just as one must ask what the
government has in mind for the
"separated" Palestinians in the
West Bank, Israel is committed
by the Economic Protocol of the
Gaza-Jericho Agreement to "at-
tempt to maintain the normality
of movement of labor" from the
Palestinian areas. Yet separation
means keeping out not only ter-
rorists but all Palestinians, in-
cluding the 65,000 workers who
work in Israel. And separation of-
fers no solution for keeping the
150,000 Palestinian residents of
east Jerusalem "separated" from
the rest of Israel. Israel also is
bound by the Oslo and Cairo
agreements to negotiate solutions
to problems with the Palestini-
ans, not unilaterally impose
them. Palestinian spokesmen do
not oppose separation in princi-
ple but see Mr. Rabin's version
as collective punishment, not col-
lective healing.
Regardless of what it's called,
the dividing line will have all the
characteristics of a national
boundary. Thus it's hardly sur-
prising that suspicious Pales-
tinians see it as yet another "fact
on the ground" by which Israel
unilaterally will determine the fi-
nal border.
Finally, analysts are asking
about the political subtext of the
"separation" message. "After all,"
Uzi Benziman wrote in Ha'aretz
last week, "the mood that
spawned the separation plan sig-
nals the Palestinians: We're cut-
ting ourselves off from you.... You
can stew in your own juice." But
whether that means West Bank
Palestinians will be subject to an
indefinite extension of military
rule, will be offered some form of
autonomy, or will begin moving
toward an independent Pales-
tinian state, is not even being con-
sidered.
To stanch the hemorrhaging
support for the Rabin govern-
ment, "separation" is not a bad
idea at all. But whether it can
help extract Israel and the Pales-
tinians from the present impasse,
or will merely remain a form of
political escapism, only time will
tell. ❑

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