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All Israeli settlements east of separation line should be shut: Olmert
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BERLIN (AFP) -
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that all Israeli settlements east of the Jewish state's West Bank security barrier should be demolished to assure the separation of Jews and Arabs.
"We must separate ourselves from the Palestinians," Olmert told Wednesday's edition of Die Welt.
"Thus we must ensure that we maintain no settlements east of the line of separation. The fewer the better. The principle of the separation must be a maximum of Jews and a minimum of Arabs. We must be on one side and they must be on the other."
Asked about the final route of the controversial barrier, which is still under construction, Olmert said: "That depends on the political circumstances within Israel and outside," notably "the political support on the part of the international community, namely the United States and the European Union (news - web sites)."
More than a month after his bombshell declaration that "in the future there will be no Jews in Gaza", much of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s plan to close settlements remains a mystery.
While he has made clear that 17 of the 21 Gaza settlements are slated for removal, Sharon has not spelled out which settlements in the West Bank are likely to meet the same fate.
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