Last week we polled visitors to our website to see if they supported an Israeli "unilateral separation" from the Palestinians. A full 30% of the respondents replied that they didn't know what a "unilateral separation" was. According to recent public opinion polls in Israel, some 60% of the population supports the notion of "unilateral separation" but it is quite likely that many of the supporters would be unable to agree on the exact terms for such a move.

In a speech before Labor Party members ten days ago, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak detailed his plan for an "initiated unilateral separation between [Israel] and the Palestinians, in a carefully staged manner over some four years." Barak's vision of separation would include "borders" between Jewish and Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem.

Following the collapse of the diplomatic process and the rise in Palestinian violence, the notion of "unilateral separation" is seriously being considered by many in Israel as a "last resort" solution. Recent viewpoints on israelinsider have dealt with various aspects of the issue.

"The basic idea is that Israel will decide for itself what its borders with the Palestinians should be, and there will build a fence, preferably high and electrified, to separate us from them."
Reuven Koret

"Although a fence might decrease the volume of Palestinian violence, it would serve only as a tactic of mixed utility, not as a grand strategy ("separation") for defining Israel's borders and preserving its Jewish nature."
Daniel Pipes

"It will, of course, also be a blatant violation of the Oslo agreement, which says that no changes will be made on the ground and that the final status of the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, will be decided upon by negotiations. Israel will join the group of pariah nations, occupying the place recently vacated by South Africa."
Uri Avnery

"The media, together with the left, is pushing this concept, trying to make people believe that it is a viable solution to today's conflict... 'If you can't live with them, run away.' That is, in other words, the definition of unilateral separation. It is an almost total withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and Gaza, uprooting hundreds of communities, and transferring almost 200,000 Jews from their homes. Leaving it all to Arafat."
David Wilder

International media: Unilateral separation is a confusing idea
Commentators in Israel and the international media also relate to the idea of "unilateral separation," trying to define the term and offering their perspective on how to implement a true separation between Israelis and Palestinians.

"If Israel is to remain a 'Jewish state,' it must 'separate' from the Palestinians by making precisely the sort of 'clean break' Israel made from southern Lebanon. By retreating to the lines of June 1967, Israel would achieve precisely this end, while, at the same time, it would provide the Palestinians with just about enough territory to form a viable state of their own."
Michael Jansen, Jordan Times

"Unilateral separation is a confusing idea, and a product of despair. It will be interpreted by the Palestinians as an act of weakness. They will attack us from the rear, and there will be even more terror, with greater motivation, while the army will have to operate against the terror infrastructure in the territories."
Yoel Marcus, Ha'aretz

"One of the problems [unilateral separation] will entail will be an evacuation of a sizable number of settlements. Many political observers consider that any government that would agree to such an evacuation would be courting political suicide."
Yosef Goell, Jerusalem Post

"The problem is, walling off the West Bank would be a logistical nightmare… Engineers say the barrier would have to cover hundreds of miles of often-rough terrain. But the real challenges are political. Any plan to wall Israel's borders would mean evacuating dozens of isolated Jewish settlements and tens of thousands of people across the West Bank, a move certain to infuriate Israel's powerful right wing."
Newsweek

"The supporters of an initiated separation do not propose it for the purpose of imposing a final settlement on the Palestinian side. On the contrary they have no doubt the Palestinian side will object to the separation line; they have no doubt the Israeli withdrawal will fail to put an end to the Palestinian violence; and they have no doubt that sooner or later renewed talks and negotiations will be needed as well as an additional Israeli withdrawal to a line agreed upon by both sides."
Shlomo Gazit, Jerusalem Post

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