Forget the Geneva accord, the U.S.-backed road map and all those other peace plans waving in the Mideast wind. The real direction Israelis and Palestinians seem headed was signaled in a recent rash of tough-minded interviews by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Olmert spoke what has long been unspeakable for his right-wing Likud bloc: If Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians will eventually outnumber Israel´s Jewish majority. In other words, unless Israel wants to turn totalitarian and deny. Palestinians the right to vote, the ballot box will do what Palestinian bombs have failed to do - destroy the Jewish state.

What´s Olmert´s solution to this creeping demographic disaster? Israel must act unilaterally. If the Palestinians continue to refuse reasonable peace terms, he argues, then Israel must draw what it considers secure borders, dismantle or move many Jewish settlements that are outside the new borders and withdraw from most of the West Bank and Gaza. This, explains Olmert, will "maximize the number of Jews under Israeli control and minimize the number of Arabs." The Palestinians will be left to their own devices.

It´s not a new idea. I was among those who proposed it last year, and unilateral withdrawal was a cornerstone of the Labor Party´s platform in Israel´s last national elections. The difference now is that the idea is coming from a senior member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon´s government and party.

Superslick Olmert is not one of my favorite politicians. But whether he´s using this as a springboard for his own political ambitions or is floating a trial balloon on Sharon´s behalf, the idea is out there now. And it´s causing a quiet revolution in Israel.

The hard-liners are blasting the idea as heresy, and some right-wing groups are threatening to leave Sharon´s always fragile coalition. But other Likudniks are backing it. And there are reportedly discreet talks going on with the Labor Party about possibly joining the Sharon government to strengthen the coalition and march forward with this new plan.

Sharon himself has often mysteriously said that any peace accord will require "painful concessions" by Israel. He´s expected to enumerate some of them at an Israeli security conference on Thursday. Sources close to the prime minister say he will propose relocating some 60,000 West Bank and Gaza settlers to areas within the proposed new Israeli borders.

According to some press reports, Israel´s parliament, the Knesset, has already been asked to establish guidelines to reimburse settlers who have to move.

Other press reports say the border will more or less follow the course of Israel´s controversial West Bank security barrier.

Sharon has promised the Bush administration that he will give the new Palestinian premier, Ahmed Qureia, one last chance to move down Washington´s road to peace by braking Palestinian terrorists. The betting is that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will make sure Qureia fails.

So all eyes will be on Sharon this week. He is likely to suggest a moderated form of Olmert´s ideas to replace the rapidly wrinkling U.S. road map. Whatever he suggests, it could signal a major new direction for Mideast peace, and a desperately needed one at that. (© 2003 Daily News, L.P. 12/14/03)