There is at least one Jewish settler leader who would jump at the chance of becoming a citizen of a future Palestinian state, as offered by the chief Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia.

With his long white beard, skullcap and black suit, Menachem Froman looks like a typical rabbi, preaching to his flock in the settlement of Teqoa near Bethlehem. Yet his philosophy is far removed from the mainstream of Jewish settlers.

He argues that just as there is a large minority of Arab Israelis living inside the state of Israel, there should be an important minority of Jews living inside a Palestinian state. An attitude of tolerance towards these communities would be a “litmus test” of whether both sides are really committed to peace, he believes.

“On these two minorities we can build a bridge between the states and fulfil the aim of two states living side by side, peacefully,” said Rabbi Froman, who had close ties with the late Palestinian leader, Yassir Arafat, and even discussed the issue with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the wheelchair-bound Hamas leader assassinated by Israel in 2004.

“Ahmed Yassin knew that according to the divine law of Islam, part of the Islamic state is Jews and Christians living inside and independently in the state,” said Rabbi Froman, one of the few West Bank settlers who enjoys good relations with his Arab neighbours.

He said that Jews would have to learn that loving the land of the Bible did not necessarily mean controlling it. “Most of the leadership of the settlements are against the establishment of a Palestinian state. If we change the attitude of the settlers, and of the Palestinians on the other side, I think the settlements can be the settlement,” he said.

His idea that Jews could remain inside a Palestinian state is scoffed at however by other, more militant settler leaders. “Maybe in the graveyard,” said Elyakim Haetzni, a founder of the Kiryat Arab Jewish settlement on the outskirts of Hebron. “He’s totally out of tune with everybody.”

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