A solution whereby the settlers remain under Palestinian government will relieve Israel of having to deal with their evacuation, but it is likely to undermine Israel's stance with regard to territorial exchanges. The lack of a clear connection between Israel's territorial position and the issues of security, water and infrastructures, and its apprehension about the threat of an evacuation, make it possible for the Palestinians, if they adopt the solution of Israelis remaining there, to demand more vehemently that the "fingers" of settlement that push deep into their territory, like Ariel and Kedumim, be cut back.

A solution that leaves settlers in Palestinian territory will necessitate relating to the scope of the area including 96 settlements that is not included in Israel's territorial demands, or to the 107 that are outside the Palestinian proposal. Their joint area covers between 83,000 and 114,000 dunams, which constitute 1.5 to two percent of the area of the West Bank, according to the respective positions of the sides. Will this fact generate a Palestinian demand that, in addition to territorial exchanges, Israel must allocate an area on an identical scale for the benefit of new communities for its Arab minority?

The sides will not be able to evade dealing also with the status of these lands. Since 1967 and to this day - despite rulings by the High Court of Justice which barred it - Israel has continued to build settlements and outposts on private land. They today constitute some 40 percent of the lands of the settlements that lie east of the separation fence. Both Israel and Palestine will be obliged to show great generosity toward the owners of these lands, so that they will be willing to accept the settlers as their neighbors.

In order to make this solution more feasible, steps must be taken to block the continued intensification of its disadvantages. First, Israel must cease expanding the settlements that lie outside the line of its positions. The permission granted "during the year of freeze" for some 1,500 new housing units east of the fence, and the granting of national priority status to isolated settlements, are not the way to do this. On the other hand, stopping the "laundering" and the evacuation of unauthorized outposts - of which, according to Peace Now figures, approximately 84 are located either completely or partly on private land - can reduce the private lands problem.

Palestine and Israel can exist with a Jewish and Arab minority in their midst. The establishment of a Palestinian state will ensure, firstly, that the Palestinians will be able to realize their right to self-determination outside the borders of Israel, and secondly, that those who do not grow accustomed to being a minority will always be able to emigrate to the homeland of their nation that lies across the border.

The writer is a Geneva Initiative Signatory and a member of the board of directors of the Council for Peace and Security.