Israel to promote Palestinian state's 'economic horizon'
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent

Israel is working to promote an economic plan to complement the agreement of principles ahead of the regional conference later this year, government sources in Jerusalem said Wednesday. A source said the plan would provide an "economic horizon" with a number of future investment projects when the Palestinian state is declared. .

A senior government official said the plan's goal is to "present the Palestinians with economic signposts along with the diplomatic signposts to show what can be accomplished." Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told foreign ministers and other officials in Europe that the plan needed international support. The "strategic" projects Israel has suggested so far include infrastructure improvements such as electricity and water, city planning in the West Bank and Gaza, rehabilitation of sewage systems and the establishment of a "peace corridor" in Jericho. Livni has presented the plan to the Quartet's Middle East envoy, Tony Blair, whose work also fits into the economic horizon in terms of his assistance in the building of Palestinian governing institutions. Blair is to return to the region on September 1 to continue his work, establishing his offices in the American Colony Hotel in East Jerusalem. He is close to putting together a team of 20, including humanitarian aid experts from the United Nations, American diplomats dealing with Israeli-Palestinian relations, and an Israel expert from the British Foreign Office. A four-way meeting took place Wednesday at Jericho's Intercontinental Hotel between Livni, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib, and the Palestine Liberation Organization's chief of negotiations, Saeb Erekat. The meeting focused on the initiative to further develop agricultural-industrial cooperation between Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, dubbed "The Corridor for Peace and Prosperity." "Efforts on the economic track are not at the expense of the diplomatic dialogue with the PA," Livni said. "Israel has a responsibility to create a diplomatic process and reach an agreement with the Palestinians on the widest possible basis." Erekat said the economic corridor project showed what reality could be like if "we do not waste time on violence and occupation. With regard to Gaza, Erekat said that "only the Palestinians can help themselves. We are not abandoning the inhabitants of Gaza, and Hamas must apologize and return the situation there to what it was." The "peace corridor" initiated several months ago by President Shimon Peres when he was vice premier will be one of the foundations of the economic horizon. Produce from Jericho will be marketed abroad via Jordan, and marketing facilities will be established along with the restoration of the Adam Bridge over the Jordan River and the establishment of a new airport on the Jordanian side. A closing statement on Wednesday's meeting said that the next stage of the project would be in October, with a delegation of experts from each side coming to Jericho for further talks and to set a timetable. A delegation of geologists and environmentalists is also to meet in the coming weeks to determine the best place to establish the project's facilities.

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