Weekly Commentary: Olmert-Rice-Abbas continue to defy reality

Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 20 September 2007

Reality check: as Israeli security forces scoured the Ein Beit Ilme refugee
camp in Nablus in a race against time to capture Hamas terrorists about to
carry out a devastating suicide bombing that could murder scores of
Israelis, "moderate" Palestinian "peace partner" Mahmoud Abbas demanded
Israel halt the operation.

"We have asserted also on the utmost importance for stopping the
Palestinians of invasions and arrests, the last of which was the invasion of
the city of Nablus and its refugee camps." Abbas declared at his joint press
conference today with Secretary Condoleezza Rice.

Fortunately, Israel ignored the call and so Yusuf Nadi is spending tonight
being interrogated by Israeli security authorities instead of in Paradise
with 72 virgins.

That's the reality of the situation.

This evening Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended his decision to abandon the
Israeli position that Palestinian security compliance is a prerequisite to
final status talks.

He argued that there was no time to waste waiting for Palestinian compliance
while reassuring the meeting of Kadima members that Israel would predicate
implementation of a deal on Palestinian compliance.

But there is absolutely no reason to believe him.

The very same arguments for waiving Palestinian compliance today will apply
should an agreement be reached.

His apologists will explain that Abbas has to show his people concrete
achievements - not just a piece of paper - while ongoing terror is handled
by the old "enemies of peace/friends of peace" spin.

The end result could very well be a sovereign Palestinian terror state. A
monstrous mistake magnitudes more difficult to rectify than the failed
experiment known as "Oslo".

What, indeed, is the reason for this terrible rush to exploit the so-called
"window of opportunity" for the implementation of reckless and dangerous
policy?

Are the egos really so big in Washington that the very stability of the
neighborhood is worth sacrificing in return for a possible shot at a
paragraph in the history books?

Or is this charade the cost we must pay in support of a scheme to stop Iran?

Just this Tuesday Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC),
Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah warned America in a press release against thinking
that efforts to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict would be rewarded by
cooperation by the GCC members on other fronts.

Oops.

It is not too late to stop the madness.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il