Israel responded defiantly today to criticism by President George W. Bush of a barrier it is building through Palestinian areas in the West Bank.
Israeli Vice Premier Mr Ehud Olmert said the barrier would remain an option even if a Middle East peace process resumed.
"Israel will always have the right to take unilateral steps for separation from the Palestinians through a fence or other means," Mr Olmert told Israel Radio.
In a speech in London yesterday, Mr Bush toughened his stance over the barrier, saying Israel must not prejudice final peace negotiations "with the placement of walls and fences."
Israel says the barrier of concrete walls, ditches, trenches, roads, razor wire and electric fences is aimed at stopping suicide bombers from reaching its cities. Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to secure land it occupied in 1967.
Israel's biggest newspaper reported Egypt has proposed an eight-step plan for an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire that would begin no later than December 15th and lead to peace talks.
The Yedioth Ahronotdaily said it obtained the plan after Egyptian intelligence officials presented it earlier this week to Israel and the Palestinians. There was no immediate comment from the two sides.
Under the reported plan, Israeli-Palestinian talks to implement a US-backed peace "road map" stalled by violence would be renewed immediately after the ceasefire began.
Israel would pledge to stop "assasinations" of militants, pull troops out of West Bank cities and halt all military operations against Palestinians, the newspaper said. The Palestinian Authority would agree to prevent "terror attacks."
The report said the United States and the three other sponsors of the road map - Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - would guarantee implementation of the ceasefire to end three years of violence.
Egypt is trying to broker truce talks between militants and the Palestinian Authority.
AP