THE armed wing of Islamic Jihad has thrown its weight behind a prisoner-led plan to implicitly recognise Israel in a move that could transform the deadlocked Middle East peace process. Support for the plan was announced yesterday by the most militant of the Islamic Jihad factions, the Al-Quds Brigades, in a move that significantly boosts Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has invested much of his political capital in the idea. Mr Abbas had given the Palestinian Hamas-led Government until Tuesday to agree to the terms of the proposal. If Hamas reneges, he says he will take the key themes raised by the prisoners to a referendum, to be held within 40 days. The prisoner plan calls for Israel to return to the borders held before the 1967 Six Day War and, in return, allow the capital of a Palestinian state to be established in Arab East Jerusalem. The quid pro quo would be for all Palestinian militant groups to fall under the umbrella of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, which is a signatory to past peace deals with Israel and formally recognises the existence of the Jewish state. Neither Islamic Jihad nor Hamas have previously talked in terms of a two-state solution. Both groups' reason for being has been to eliminate Israel and establish Palestinian rule across the Holy Land.