People keep asking me for my opinion on Ehud Olmert’s plan to redraw Israel’s borders and expel more Jewish settlers from their homes in the West Bank. Here’s an AP story on the controversy raging over the plan: Israeli Plan Divides U.S. Conservatives.

I don’t consider myself a “conservative” (whatever that antiquated term is supposed to mean these days), but although I reserved judgment on the Gaza disengagement I now have to say that Olmert’s plan, as I’ve seen it described, seems like more of the same incredible heartbreak and turmoil, in return for more of the same terrorism and mayhem. I’m against it.

It’s very difficult to argue that the Gaza disengagement was a success. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are dominant and rockets fall in southern Israel almost daily. Palestinians saw the pull-out as a surrender, and that probably contributed to the election of the Hamas government. Reports persist that Al Qaeda has established a presence in Gaza. Chaos reigns and civil war looms.

And parts of the West Bank are even closer to important Israeli centers, putting them within easy range of Palestinian rockets, which grow ever more sophisticated. Giving away more land makes no sense whatsoever with the results of the Gaza experience right there, festering in front of our eyes.

Here’s what we could realistically expect to see if Ehud Olmert’s plan proceeds, as the thugs of Fatah look forward to taking their fight with Hamas to the West Bank.

Fatah is threatening to take the armed conflict between its forces and Hamas in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank. Senior Palestinian Authority officials said that Fatah is interested in replicating the clashes between Fatah and Hamas in the West Bank, where Fatah is stronger.

The conflict between the two organizations escalated further Saturday, with the assassination attempt on Gen. Tareq Abu Rajab, chief of the Palestinian Authority intelligence service in the Gaza Strip. Abu Rajab, a staunch adversary of Hamas, survived with moderate to serious injuries.