Allon Plan

   A proposal developed by Yigal Allon to establish peace and secure borders for Israel after the Six-Day War (1967). Essentially, the plan called for the return of the densely populated areas in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to Arab control as well as a return of most of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt. Israel would retain control of the Jordan River valley and mountain ridges, where it could establish settlements and early-warning systems (of radar and other devices) to provide warnings against attacks from the east. There would be adjustments to the 1949 armistice lines, and Israel would retain Jerusalem and the Etzion Bloc of settlements south of Jerusalem. Other specifics were included in the detailed plan. The plan was never adopted as the official policy of Israel, but the Israel Labor Party-led governments of Israel until 1977 pursued its settlement policy using the Allon Plan as its guideline.

   In 1996, a new political party, the Third Way, ran on a policy platform regarding the future status of the West Bank that borrowed heavily from the Allon Plan. In late 1996 and 1997, the Likud-led government of Benjamin Netanyahu articulated a vision of a permanent settlement with the Palestinians derived from the original Allon Plan and with adjustments to reflect prevailing realities in the territories, a vision that Netanyahu called the "Allon Plan Plus."

   See also Arab-Israeli Conflict.