By YAAKOV KATZ
Calling the Road Map peace plan a "trap," former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) chief Ami Ayalon said Sunday that Israel needed to launch an independent diplomatic initiative alongside the US-backed Road Map.
"The Road Map will get stuck already during its first stage since [Palestinian Authority Chairman] Mahmoud Abbas doesn't want to collect the Hamas' weapons," he told The Jerusalem Post following a conference at the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies.
Ayalon said that Israel needed to launch a parallel plan to the Road Map which had a clear diplomatic goal regarding a final agreement with the Palestinians and included a decisive effort to eradicate terrorism.