Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday said it is worth risking the lives of his fellow Jews in order to gain the diplomatic benefits he believes will accompany “goodwill gestures” made toward Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Olmert was addressing his plan to remove scores of military checkpoints and roadblocks originally established in Judea and Samaria to prevent Palestinian terrorists from reaching Israeli population centers.
Olmert agreed last week under international pressure to curb the travel restrictions so that Abbas could go back to his own people with some kind of achievement in hand.
But previous decisions to remove roadblocks in Judea and Samaria have led to significant increases in Palestinian terrorism against Israeli civilians.
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