Israeli FM mulling map of Palestinian state
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Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, according to a senior official within the ministry, has drafted a map that would "freeze the existing situation in the territories, with minor changes."
"It's the responsibility of the ministry to come up with ideas and plans, and there are many departments working on many ideas," a ministry official told Xinhua in response to the reports appearing in the local Ha'aretz daily on Sunday.
The idea is meant to show the international community that Israel is taking the initiative, and is interested in making progress towards a peace agreement with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
"The foreign minister's position remains supportive of a long-term interim agreement," the official said in response to reports of a provisional map for Palestinian statehood.
Such a map would cede areas to the Palestinians, although it is unclear what areas are included, and if they include any territory in eastern Jerusalem, which the Palestinians are claiming for a future state.
Several Israeli governments have said that they consider all of Jerusalem the country's "sovereign and eternal capital."
"After a Palestinian state has been established in provisional borders, it would be possible to resume diplomatic negotiations and maybe reach agreements on transferring additional territory to the Palestinian state," the official told the newspaper.
Lieberman, who the report said has briefed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the projected map, hopes such a plan would gradually gain adherents for an interim agreement with the Palestinians.
Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon has reportedly given his support for such a plan, and Netanyahu recently noted that an interim agreement is a possible outcome, during an interview with an Israel television channel.
However, a Palestinian response to the idea was not long in coming.
Chief PNA negotiator Saeb Erekat termed such a map an " invention and a joke," in an interview with Army radio on Sunday.
