Olmert Claims Bush Offered to Take 100,000 Palestinian Refugees

Well, nobody in the Arab world ever takes these people in, so why not us? No doubt this would have gone over well, if indeed there's any truth to it. Surely Obama would rather not take in 100,000. He'd probably prefer half a million.

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that the Bush administration had assured him that the United States would be willing to absorb some 100,000 Palestinian refugees immediately as American citizens, should Israel reach a permanent settlement with the Palestinian Authority.

The former premier told a Geneva Initiative conference in Tel Aviv that during negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2008 he had offered a solution to the refugee problem that would have been in line with the Arab League peace plan and promised that any measures would be the result of a coordinated agreement.

The Bush administration had offered this American contribution to the refugee problem as part of what would be a framework of international compensation, he said.

"I think that if the refugees - many of whom are already second or third generation [Palestinians] living outside of the territories – were given a choice between returning to Israel or the United States, we could guess what they would choose," he said.

How about choosing to go to a country like Jordan or Syria?

Cousin of 9/11 Hijacker an Israeli Spy?

Wow, this ought to really fire up the 9/11 conspiracy kooks, who never need much evidence of anything at all to get worked up.

Just imagine what they'll come up with when they find out the cousin of 9/11 hijacker Ziad al-Jarrah may have allegedly been an Israeli spy the past 25 years.

The Loose Change clowns must be wetting themselves.

For 25 years, Ali al-Jarrah managed to live on both sides of the bitterest divide running through this region. To friends and neighbors, he was an earnest supporter of the Palestinian cause, an affable, white-haired family man who worked as an administrator at a nearby school.

To Israel, he appears to have been a valued spy, sending reports and taking clandestine photographs of Palestinian groups and Hezbollah since 1983.

Now he sits in a Lebanese prison cell, accused by the authorities of betraying his country to an enemy state. Months after his arrest, his friends and former colleagues are still in shock over the extent of his deceptions: the carefully disguised trips abroad, the unexplained cash, the secret second wife.

Lebanese investigators say he has confessed to a career of espionage spectacular in its scope and longevity, a real-life John le Carré novel. Many intelligence agents are said to operate in the civil chaos of Lebanon, but Mr. Jarrah’s arrest has shed a rare light onto a world of spying and subversion that usually persists in secret.

Mr. Jarrah’s first wife maintains that he was tortured, and is innocent; requests to interview him were denied.

From his home in this Bekaa Valley village, Mr. Jarrah, 50, traveled often to Syria and to south Lebanon, where he photographed roads and convoys that might have been used to transport weapons to Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, investigators say. He spoke with his handlers by satellite phone, receiving “dead drops” of money, cameras and listening devices. Occasionally, on the pretext of a business trip, he traveled to Belgium and Italy, received an Israeli passport, and flew to Israel, where he was debriefed at length, investigators say.

At the start of the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli officials called Mr. Jarrah to reassure him that his village would be spared and that he should stay at home, investigators said.

He was finally arrested last July by Hezbollah, which now has perhaps the most powerful intelligence apparatus in this country. It handed him to the Lebanese military — along with his brother Yusuf, who is accused of helping him spy — and he awaits trial by a military court.

Several current and former military officials agreed to provide details about his case on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorized to discuss it before the trial began. Their accounts tallied with details provided by Mr. Jarrah’s relatives and former colleagues.

It is not the family’s first brush with notoriety. One of Mr. Jarrah’s cousins, Ziad al-Jarrah, was among the 19 hijackers who carried out the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, though the men were 20 years apart in age and do not appear to have known each other well.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, declined to discuss Mr. Jarrah’s situation, saying, “It is not our practice to publicly talk about any such allegations in this case or in any case.”

Update: Well, that didn't take long.

Cousin Of Alleged 9/11 Hijacker Exposed As Israeli Spy

Which other members of the Jarrah family were working for Israel as intelligence assets? Surely not Ziad al-Jarrah, one of the infamous “laughing hijackers” and the alleged pilot of Flight 93?

Al-Jarrah’s paper passport was one of those that miraculously survived to be legible, apparently avoiding being consumed by fires that were so intense that it took over 6 months just to identify the actual victims of Flight 93.

Israeli intelligence connections to 9/11 can be traced back to the five “dancing Israelis” who were witnessed setting up video camera equipment pointed at the World Trade Center in New York before the first plane hit the tower. The men were seen jumping and high-fiving with shouts of “joy and mockery” as Flight 11 and Flight 175 slammed into the buildings. They were later seen posing for photographs in front of the debris.

Cue the Twilight Zone music.

Just Words; Just Speeches

He's desperate to not appear as a radical leftist. Consequently, Barack [deleted] Obama has yet to find a position that he hasn't thrown under the bus. Must be pleading for mercy from the Koslings and other malcontents, misfits and loons.

Obama backtracks on an undivided J'lem
In his first major speech minutes after clinching the Democrat nomination as the party's candidate for the US presidential election, Barack Obama surprised listeners at an AIPAC convention by saying Jerusalem should be Israel's "undivided" capital. However, the Illinois senator retracted his comments on Sunday, saying that they were "badly phrased."

"You know, the truth is that this was an example where we had some poor phrasing in the and we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given," Obama said during an interview on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria - GPS."

"The point we were simply making was that we don't want barbed wire running through Jerusalem, similar to the way it was prior to the '67 war, that it is possible for us to create a Jerusalem that is cohesive and coherent. I was not trying to predetermine what are essentially final-status issues," he continued.

Then why bring it up, asshat?

The senator explained that despite the error in conveying his message, he did not intend to abandon the notion that the two sides - Israel and the Palestinians - should discuss such issues on their own, with strong backing from the United States.

Israel, Obama said, must realize that its existence in the long term is dependent on its ability to achieve peace with its neighbors, while the Palestinian leadership must recognize the fact that the battles it fights, the direction in which it is going and the rhetoric it uses do not "deliver the goods" for the Palestinian people.

The uproarious laughter comes from Hamastan.

What Israeli citizens want and what the residents of the West Bank long for is a pragmatic approach that would allow them to be safe, live their lives and educate their children, Obama added.

Wow. Stating the obvious is certainly a stroke of freakin' genius.

Obama is scheduled to come to Israel for a brief 24-hour visit next week as part of a European and Middle Easter tour (during which he will visit Germany, France, the United Kingdom and also Iraq and Jordan).

Heh. Maybe he'll speak from the east side of where the Berlin Wall stood: 'Madame Merkel, rebuild this wall!'[/sarc for the clueless]

Obama's campaign headquarters have not yet published his itinerary and the precise date of his arrival, but he is scheduled to visit the Western Wall, Yad Vashem and take a helicopter trip to Sderot.

Additionally, Obama will meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu.

Assuming, of course, Olmert's still around to assure Israel's path to suicide grovel at his feet.

A Palestinian official said on Monday that Obama will visit the West Bank during the trip.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that the Democratic presidential contender will travel to Ramallah on July 23. He said Obama is scheduled to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Erekat said the Palestinians "welcome this meeting," and added that if he is elected US president, the Palestinians hope "he will stay the course between Israel and the Palestinians in reaching peace."

A poll published by Newsweek recently found that Obama is still the favored candidate, though by a smaller margin than last month. Obama enjoys 44 percent of support, while Republican nominee John McCain enjoys 41%. In a similar poll conducted last month, Obama led with 51% support and McCain was trailing with only 36%.

Change. Change we can believe in.

Spit.

Via The Jerusalem Post

Our friend Carl in Jerusalem has more

Israelis Shun Carter

Is anyone the least bit surprised by this?

Let's see. Here we have a virulently anti-Semitic, far-left relic who's admittedly met with those who've sworn to destroy you.

Unfortunately, the idiotic actions of this boob also put U.S. agents in jeopardy.

Israel's secret service has declined to assist U.S. agents guarding former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a visit in which Israeli leaders have shunned him, U.S. sources close to the matter said on Monday.

Carter angered the Israeli government with plans to meet Hamas's top leader, Khaled Meshaal, in Syria, and for describing Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories as "a system of apartheid" in a 2006 book.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who brokered Israel's first peace treaty with an Arab neighbor, Egypt, signed in 1979, met Israel's largely ceremonial president, Shimon Peres, on Sunday but was shunned by the political leadership, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel has also rejected Carter's request to meet jailed Palestinian uprising leader Marwan Barghouthi, who is seen as a possible successor to President Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman for Carter said.

Barghouthi was convicted in 2004 of murder by an Israeli court over the killing of four Israelis and a Greek Orthodox monk in attacks by Palestinian militants. He is serving five life sentences.

American sources close to the matter said the Shin Bet security service, which helps protect visiting dignitaries and is overseen by Olmert's office, declined to meet the head of Carter's Secret Service security detail or provide his team with assistance as is customary during such visits.

"They're not getting support from local security," an American source said.

You would think a former president would realize this, but when you're a megalomaniac like Jimmy Carter, it's all about you and getting some camera time.

Forget the fact you're betraying your country and selling out our foremost ally in the Mideast.

Podhoretz: Stopping Iran

Norman Podhoretz again makes the case why it is imperative the Iranians are stopped from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Lengthy and well-argued, he makes a convincing case.

When I first predicted a year or so ago that Bush would bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities once he had played out the futile diplomatic string, the obstacles that stood in his way were great but they did not strike me as insurmountable. Now, thanks in large part to the new NIE, they have grown so formidable that I can only stick by my prediction with what the NIE itself would describe as “low-to-moderate confidence.” For Bush is right about the resemblance between 2008 and 1938. In 1938, as Winston Churchill later said, Hitler could still have been stopped at a relatively low price and many millions of lives could have been saved if England and France had not deceived themselves about the realities of their situation. Mutatis mutandis, it is the same in 2008, when Iran can still be stopped from getting the bomb and even more millions of lives can be saved—but only provided that we summon up the courage to see what is staring us in the face and then act on what we see.

Unless we do, the forces that are blindly working to ensure that Iran will get the bomb are likely to prevail even against the clear-sighted determination of George W. Bush, just as the forces of appeasement did against Churchill in 1938. In which case, we had all better pray that there will be enough time for the next President to discharge the responsibility that Bush will have been forced to pass on, and that this successor will also have the clarity and the courage to discharge it. If not—God help us all—the stage will have been set for the outbreak of a nuclear war that will become as inescapable then as it is avoidable now.

Read the whole thing.

Meanwhile, Israel tested a missile Thursday, prompting more belligerence from Iran.

Israel tested a missile on Thursday, prompting Iran to vow retaliation if the Jewish state carried out recent veiled threats to launch strikes, possibly atomic, against Tehran's nuclear facilities.

Israel is widely assumed to have nuclear warheads and missiles able to hit Iran. It gave no details of the trial. A defence official said it was "not just flexing its muscles", three days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to consider "all options" to prevent Iran building nuclear weapons.

As oil prices rose almost 1 percent on the new Middle East tension, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who says his country wants only atomic energy, said Israel would hold off: "The Zionist regime ... would not dare attack Iran," he said.

Want to bet?

Iran Restarted Nuke Program in 2004

I guess we'll see all those celebratory opinion pieces retracted before long.

Making it worse, some say they'll be able to have a weapon by 2010.

That's sticking it to the man!

Iran did shut down its nuclear weapons program in 2003 but restarted it a year later, dispersing the equipment to thwart international inspectors, an overseas Iranian opposition group told the Wall Street Journal.

The group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), exposed the country's nuclear-fuel program in 2002 and now believes a recent U.S. analysis is giving the wrong impression that Iran's nuclear program is not an urgent threat, the newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate published last week said Iran's weapons program was frozen in 2003, contradicting an earlier report that the Islamic Republic was determined to build a nuclear bomb.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert disagreed, saying Israel believes Iran will have the resources to create a nuclear weapon by 2010. But the estimate dampened any enthusiasm among Russia and China for more U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes.

I firmly believe Democrats don't care that the mullahs get a bomb so long as they can score cheap political points against President Bush.

Hamas: Gaza Worse Than Warsaw Ghetto

Sure looks like Gaza

Nothing like a proper historical analogy.

THE Hamas rulers of Gaza have implored the US to bring an end to the crippling boycott of the Gaza Strip, which they have likened to the World War II siege of Warsaw's Jewish Ghetto.

In the militant group's first public appeal to the US since it won democratic elections in the Palestinian Territories in January last year Hamas said yesterday it did not have "any ideological arguments with the West".

Really? To say that strains credulity would be the understatement of the decade.

Hamas spokesman, Ahmed Yousef, said the group had tried unsuccessfully many times to directly contact US and European Union officials. Israeli Government sources also claim that deposed Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya attempted to contact officials in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office in the weeks following his poll win.

However, in an open letter to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice released yesterday, Hamas made public its bid for dialogue, underscoring the increasingly desperate predicament of the leadership and of Gaza's 1.4 million residents.

Now it gets really amusing.

After its emphatic electoral win, Hamas embarked on a law-and-order program, vowing to end corruption and turn the attention of the administration towards domestic affairs. But the US, the UN, the EU and Russia then launched a boycott of the new government that has intensified ever since.

In the letter to Dr Rice, Mr Yousef said: "It is hard to get across the appalling level of (hardship) that the Palestinian people, and in particular the 1.3 million Palestinians who live in Gaza, currently suffer from.

A law-and-order program?

Huh?

This, however, is really sickening.

"Our isolation is complete, confining us in a ghetto (worse than the Jewish ghettos of Warsaw) where our sewage, power and water systems have been destroyed, all normal supplies constrained and even humanitarian aid withheld. Many people have not been paid for nearly two years, over 75 per cent are unemployed and now the Israelis are threatening to cut off fuel and power and invade us once again.

Whose fault is this? Sure as hell isn't Israel's. Sure isn't the United States.

How about looking at youself, Mr. Yousef.

For good measure, they then play the race card. May as well insult everybody while you're at it.

"You cannot preach about exporting democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan and ignore the democratic process in Palestine," the letter continues.

"On a personal note, we found it amusing that a black person empathises with Israeli deaths on the one hand and Palestinian segregation on the other - if media reports are accurate. It is a military occupation, Dr Rice.

"Their citizens face insecurity and death because that is the situation they have created for themselves ... If you were even-handed in this conflict, if you engaged with us openly, then the chances of peace would dramatically increase.

Beginning Of The End?

Myriads at Western Wall Praying Against Annapolis Concessions

(IsraelNN.com) An estimated 25,000 people took part in a mass prayer service at the Western Wall against the Israeli government's positions at the Annapolis summit.

The prayer service (video) was followed by a massive protest, co-sponsored by the Council of Jewish Communities of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), near the Prime Minister's residence. The protest is entitled, "It Will Blow Up in Our Face."

Once again.

At the time of the Western Wall prayer vigil, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was meeting in Washington with U.S. President George Bush in preparation for the Annapolis summit on Tuesday.

The front line of religious-Zionist rabbis, led by Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Mordechai Eliyahu, called for the public to attend the Western Wall prayers. MK Uri Ariel (National Union party), among those who initiated the prayer service, said, "It is critical for us to offer prayer to our Father in Heaven when the Prime Minister wants to sell our national homeland. We are here [at the Wall] to say that we trust in G-d, and that Olmert has no mandate to give up Jerusalem."

Another organizer, Rafi Atiyah, told Arutz-7's Chizky Ezra, "The feeling of despair that has overtaken some of the public has not escaped the eyes of the rabbis who called for the prayer service. But while this feeling can lead to a dead end and to a sense of helplessness, it can also be an opening for a new type of genuine and mature turn to G-d; to a taking of responsibility from a new, pure angle. It could be that out of this tiredness, we will come to the realization that it's not we who control the situation. We sometimes think that if we act, protest, settle the Land, teach, and do all sorts of things, that everything will be OK.

"But today, we are coming to the Western Wall with humility, awe, and serene faith. We return the ball that has been repressed in our hearts for the past two-plus years, and that is threatening to choke us, to our Father in Heaven. We plead with Him that He will show us the way, and that we can be partners with Him in our Redemption. We want to work with Him, to sanctify His Name."

Via Arutz-7/IsraelNationalNews.com

Our friend, Carl in Jerusalem, provides excellent analysis of the demise of the Bush Doctrine and pressure being exerted upon Israel to commit suicide.

During the run up to the Annapolis Conference, it has always had the appearance of being nothing more than Munich redux.

As such, too busy laughing his ass off, Reinhard Heydrich was unavailable for comment.

Also at A Tangled Web

How About Pre-1948 Borders?

You know this beast doesn't even want to recognize Israel and now he's playing games again with this nonsense about going back to pre-1967 borders. Why not just go back to the borders before Israel existed? How about going back to 1367? Nothing will satisfy these people until Israel ceases to exists, so why bother "negotiating" with people who want you dead?

I say too damn bad. Your people got their asses handed to them, so sit down and shut up.

The sad thing is, Ehud Olmert keeps dancing with this terror honcho and continues to make concessions.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday laid out his most specific demands for the borders of a future independent state, calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Abbas' claim comes as Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams are trying to hammer out a joint vision for a future peace deal in time for a U.S.-hosted conference next month.

With Israel seeking to retain parts of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Abbas' comments appeared to set the stage for tough negotiations, which are expected to include complicated arrangements such as land swaps and shared control over holy sites.

In a television interview, Abbas said the Palestinians want to establish a state on 6,205 square kilometers (2,400 square miles) of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It was the first time he has given a precise number for the amount of land he is seeking.

"We have 6,205 square kilometers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip," Abbas told Palestine TV. "We want it as it is."

Israel Demolished Syrian Nuke Cache

You have to figure they were building up using either Saddam Husseins's former material or have been working in cahoots with the North Koreans and Iranians.

You didn't really believe the Norks were just going to give up their program and be honest about dismantling it?

Israelis ‘blew apart Syrian nuclear cache’

Andrew Semmel, a senior US State Department official, said Syria might have obtained nuclear equipment from “secret suppliers”, and added that there were a “number of foreign technicians” in the country.

Asked if they could be North Korean, he replied: “There are North Korean people there. There’s no question about that.” He said a network run by AQ Khan, the disgraced creator of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, could be involved.

But why would nuclear material be in Syria? Known to have chemical weapons, was it seeking to bolster its arsenal with something even more deadly?

Alternatively, could it be hiding equipment for North Korea, enabling Kim Jong-il to pretend to be giving up his nuclear programme in exchange for economic aid? Or was the material bound for Iran, as some authorities in America suggest?

According to Israeli sources, preparations for the attack had been going on since late spring, when Meir Dagan, the head of Mossad, presented Olmert with evidence that Syria was seeking to buy a nuclear device from North Korea.

The Israeli spy chief apparently feared such a device could eventually be installed on North-Korean-made Scud-C missiles.

“This was supposed to be a devastating Syrian surprise for Israel,” said an Israeli source. “We’ve known for a long time that Syria has deadly chemical warheads on its Scuds, but Israel can’t live with a nuclear warhead.”

Read the rest. Let's hope there's a surprise on the way for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The "no WMD" crowd was unavailable for comment.

More from Riehl World View, Atlas Shrugs, Pajamas Media.

Qassam Attack on Israeli Base Wounds Up to 30

The moderate and peace-loving Palestinians fired Qassam rockets at an Israeli military base overnight.

They must be celebrating 9/11.

Gaza rocket wounds at least 25 Israeli soldiers

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday wounded at least 25 soldiers in a military base in Israel, an army spokesman said.

"One rocket hit a base," the spokesman said. "Between 25 and 30 soldiers were hurt."

The casualty toll was the highest ever caused by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, territory Hamas Islamists violently took over in fighting against the long-dominant Fatah faction three months ago.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the rocket strike.

Militants in Gaza frequently fire Qassam rockets towards southern Israel. Few of the attacks cause casualties but their psychological impact on life in the area has been significant.

The early morning strike on the army base was likely to increase calls in Israel for a massive ground operation in the Gaza Strip against militants behind the rocket salvoes.

Last week, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet decided against launching a major assault in the territory after a rocket landed near a children's day care centre, opting instead for what it called "pinpoint attacks" against militants.

A group is taking reponsibility.

The Salah a-Din Brigades, the military arm of the Public Resistance Committees, claimed responsibility for an early Tuesday Qassam attack that left over two dozen Israeli soldiers wounded.

The Perfidy Continues

This was originally posted by our friend, Carl in Jerusalem and provides further insight into our involvement in Israel. All text in bold is not part of Carl's original publication, but has been added for the purpose of highlighting US policy towards Israel.

Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert has approved the construction of a new Arab town 20 kilometers south of Shchem (Nablus) and 35 kilometers north of Ramallah along Highway 505, the main east-west highway through Samaria. The town is to be located in 'Area B,' which is under Israeli security control and will house 30-40,000 hostile 'Palestinians' in its first phase and 70,000 within ten years. Olmert did not bring the plan to the cabinet for approval before committing to Secretary of State Rice last night that the town would be built. DEBKA is calling the plan a 'major strategic restructure' of Samaria:DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s sources report that the new town site will encompass the Palestinian villages of Qabalan, Oseria and Qudela and straddle Trans-Samaria Highway 505 opposite Tapuach junction. The US planners intend the new town to provide territorial contiguity between Nablus and Ramallah. At the same time, it will cut off Israeli villages in the Jordan Valley from the settlement blocs in Samaria.

The new Palestinian urban entity, which our sources reveal Olmert first learned about in his talks with President Bush on June 19, will be the first Arab town to go up in the region in 1,500 years, since the foundation of Ramleh. [I actually find that 1500 figure hard to believe. CiJ]

During his White House visit, Olmert learned that the Americans regard the Palestinian town as a primary project for consolidating Mahmoud Abbas’ government. It is designed to provide tens of thousands of jobs for West Bankers, whose unemployment rate has soared to 70 percent since the Palestinian uprising was launched against Israel in 2000.

American town planners and architects hired by the US government have prepared initial diagrams after secret visits to the site. During her current tour, Rice showed the plans to the Israeli prime minister, Abbas and Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad.

The problem still outstanding is financing. It was hoped that the Saudis would put up part of the initial investment for the foundations. When he brokered the Mecca accord for a Palestinian unity government earlier this year, the monarch pledged $250 million in aid to the Palestinians. However, this hope was dashed, when King Abdullah flatly refused to hear of aid to the Abbas regime in his talks with the US secretary in Jeddah Tuesday.

I'm surprised Olmert (apparently) hasn't pledged Israeli money to pay for it yet.

But the key to this story is that it means that the Jewish towns in the Jordan Valley are going to be cut off from the rest of the country except if they go south to Jericho or north to Beit She'an.

In the meantime, Olmert won't allow so much as a new caravan in the Jewish towns of Judea and Samaria. He and his corrupt, Jew-hating government have to go, quickly, before they can do more permanent damage.

Carl in Jerusalem

Also at Israel Matzav

.

Those Failing To Learn From History . . . .

Yesterday, it appeared that Israel found a James "F*&k the Jews" Baker - special order - American-made knife in her back.

Today, questions arise whether Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is trying to play on both sides of the street.

Israel Negotiates With Hamas in Tel Aviv
(IsraelNN.com) Sources described as "reliable" have been quoted by the Palestinian Authority news agency Quds Press saying a Hamas official made a secret trip to Tel Aviv last week to discuss the border crossings into Gaza. The reports say that just over a week ago, Abd al-Salah, who oversees economic affairs in the office of Hamas Authority prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, came secretly to Tel Aviv to meet with economic officials.

Al-Salah arrived with a proposal to transfer control of the Gaza crossings to private Palestinian Authority hands, under European supervision. He also raised the issue of the economic dependence of Gaza upon Israel.

Private Palestinian hands. Kind of like the private treasury that Yasser Arafart established?

The sources emphasized that the meeting was approved by both Israel and Hamas. Israel has said that it would not negotiate with or recognize Hamas, which calls for the destruction of all of Israel and its total replacement by an Arab state. Hamas, on the other hand, never ruled out talks with Israel on day-to-day issues in order to promote Hamas interests.

Such as continued perpetual victimhood, an unlimited supply of arms and armaments from Iran, via Syria; and maybe a seat at the UN for good measure?

In other Hamas news, Russia and Hamas appear to disagree regarding their diplomatic relations. Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister said on Tuesday that his country would reduce the level of its contacts with Hamas. On Wednesday, however, a Hamas parliament member said that exiled Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal, and other Hamas officials, have been invited to Moscow for an official visit.

Having lost the respect of New Europe, Soviet Russian president Vladimir Paranoid needs to find some friends somewhere. That he may be cultivating friends with the descendants of those who fellated the Austrian corporal is apparently of little, or no, importance.

Meanwhile, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is about to begin her meetings with Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. Following her meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh with Gulf state leaders, she said that Hamas must get used to the idea of "two states," i.e., a PA state alongside Israel.

And that was said from which side of her mouth?

It was originally reported that Secretary Rice feels such a PA state can be formed even before Fatah and Hamas reunite. However, what she in fact said was, "We hope that at some point in time, when the two-state solution arrives, it will be a uniting force for all the Palestinians who want a state, and it will be a point of time at which people will have to choose if they are out of that consensus."

And what choice have they already made in Gaza, dear?

Meanwhile, Olmert, Hero of the Israel-Hamas War, is scurrying about in an attempt to establish his credentials as an intrepid leader.

Olmert to Rice: "Keep Hamas out of the game"
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday that Hamas Islamists had to be "kept out of the game" while Israel explores new cooperation with the Palestinians.

Pssst, Olmert! New cooperation is going to give you the same results as the old cooperation did.

At their first meeting since Hamas seized control in Gaza, Olmert discussed with Rice the possibility of handing over some security control in the occupied West Bank to President Mahmoud Abbas's forces and said this could only happen "after proper security guarantees" were given, an Israeli spokesman said.

Just like the guarantees given in exchange for the various Land For Peace More War initiatives?

It's madness. Sheer madness.

Israel Suicide Watch

You really must wonder what the thought process is here.

Prisoners released include members of Hamas, Jihad

Ziad Abu Ayn, director of prisoner affairs in the Palestinian Authority said Friday that among the 255 prisoners released are 30 members of Hamas and two members of the Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian Authority, he told Ynet, does not distinguish between prisoners: "they are all our prisoners, all our sons." The PA, he added, is proud of the fact that prisoners affiliated with Hamas and Jihad are among the released.

Ayn's words are the first official statement made regarding the prisoners' affiliations. So far, the majority of prisoners were believed to be of Fatah, with about 15 percents of them of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democtaric Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP).

The prisoners, who left Ketziot prison in the early hours of Friday morning, have made there way to the Bitunia checkpoint, where – once over on the Palestinian side - they are to be greeted by top Palestinian officials, including president Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the guidelines approved earlier in the week by a special Israeli governmental committee headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the prisoners release [sic] do not have any "blood on their hands".

Give them time.

Israel to Release 250 Pali Terrorists

No doubt they'll all return to their Pali hellhole and become fine, upstanding citizens.

And I'm 12 feet tall and made out of cheddar cheese.

Israeli Cabinet OKs prisoner release

JERUSALEM - The Israeli Cabinet on Sunday approved the release of 250 Palestinian prisoners, officials said, in the government's latest gesture of support for moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his struggle against the Hamas militant group.

However, the officials said Israel had still not finalized the list of prisoners to be freed or the timing of the release. Palestinian officials said they were disappointed Israel was not coordinating the release with them.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to the prisoner release at a June 25 summit with Abbas as part of Israel's strategy of bolstering the Palestinian leader following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.

Israel also has transferred more than $100 million in frozen tax funds to Abbas, and pledged to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Shalit in Hamas Control?

This is rather curious.

Army of Islam says Shalit moved to Hamas control

Army of Islam, one of the militant groups implicated in the abduction last year of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit, told Channel 10 that it has transferred Shalit to the full control of Hamas.

Until his release Wednesday morning, Army of Islam had also been holding British Broadcasting Corporation reporter Alan Johnston, who had been captive in the Gaza Strip for four months.

In an interview aired Wednesday night, Army of Islam deputy commander Abu Mutha'ana said, "We at Army of Islam made the preparations for operation 'Dissipating Illusion,' which was carried out in cooperation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade and the Popular Resistance Committees Salah a-Din. We kidnapped Gilad Shalit and handed him over to Hamas."

Abu Mutha'ana, fully masked and surrounded by weapons in the Channel 10 interview, did not fully explain why the movement handed Shalit over to Hamas. He said simply that Shalit was transferred "because Army of Islam was busy with other things."

None of them good, I'm sure.

After Johnston was released earlier Wednesday, Israel called on Hamas to free Shalit, saying that the militant group is responsible for the delay in the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap for the soldier.

Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, called on Hamas to free Shalit immediately. "The Hamas that brought about Alan Johnston's release is the same Hamas that abducted Gilad Shalit," she said.

Carnage in Gaza; Media Refuses to Call it Civil War

Maybe when nobody is left standing will they admit the obvious.

Bloody day in Gaza raises civil war fears

GAZA, June 12 (Reuters) - In what looked ever more like civil war, the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas battled supporters of the Islamist prime minister across Gaza on Tuesday, the bloodiest day of factional fighting in months.

At least 27 people were killed and 70 wounded, hospital officials said, taking to 47 the number of dead in the coastal enclave since Saturday. Early on Tuesday, the Gaza homes of both Abbas and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas were fired on.

The largest force loyal to Abbas, who is favoured by Western powers, was ordered onto the streets to defeat what his secular Fatah group called a "bloody coup" by Hamas Islamists after Hamas gunmen stormed Fatah bases in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas later appeared to have control of one major Fatah base in the north and casualty data suggested it had the upper hand more widely. Fatah leaders threatened to quit a three-month-old unity government with Hamas if there was no immediate truce.

The European Union said there was an imminent risk of civil war if fighting went on, and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged support for Abbas's efforts "to restore law and order".

Haniyeh and Abbas both called for restraint and talks but, as each side accused the other of siding with their Israeli adversaries, there was little sign of fighters paying heed.

The head of an Egyptian delegation in Gaza that saw its latest truce shot down on Monday, urged civilians to rally on Wednesday morning to show support for a new ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an arch-foe of Hamas, said for the first time that "serious consideration" must be given to posting international peacekeepers in Gaza, from which Israel withdrew troops and Jewish settlers two years ago.

"If the Gaza Strip ultimately falls to Hamas, this will be of great regional significance," he said, but added Israel could not enter Gaza to fight Hamas to help Abbas's "pragmatists".

Breathtakingly disingenuous.

The Jerusalem Post is a bit clearer in its assessment.

Gaza on verge of becoming Hamastan

When All Jews Are Floating Dead In The Sea

That might be when, finally, Ehud Olmert learns that terrorism cannot be appeased.

Israel Offers Golan Heights To Syria.

In a secret communique, Ehud Olmert demanded that in exchange for the return of the strategic highlands, Syria dissolve its alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant factions who maintain headquarters in Damascus.

Say what?!? Are you stoned . . . or just stoopid???

Syria, under the regime of Bashar al Assad, is a key supporter of the Lebanese Shia Hizbollah militia, who battled Israel to a standstill last summer. Many of the anti-tank rockets that wreaked havoc on Israeli ground forces originated in Syria, a crucial conduit for the Iranian Katyushas and other rockets that rained down on Israeli cities throughout the 34-day war.

As our friend Carl in Jerusalem at Israel Matzav so aptly puts it

Israelis are overwhelmingly opposed to withdrawing from the Golan and do not trust Assad. An overwhelming 84% of the Israeli public opposes handing over the entire Golan Heights to Syria, according to a Maariv/Teleseker poll. However, these 84% are divided into two groups: one, with 44%, opposes any Israeli withdrawal. The remaining 40% support a partial withdrawal.

74% of those surveyed said they do not believe Syrian President Bashar Assad when he says he wants peace. A 'partial withdrawal' is irrelevant unless Olmert is stupid enough to do it unilaterally. It is not something to which Assad will ever agree.

On the other hand, Assad's poll numbers in Israel are better than Olmert's....

It remains to be seen if Dhimmi Carter will offer Olmert the pen to sign the suicide note.

Plot to Kill Olmert Foiled

A Palestinian working with Doctors Without Borders has been nabbed in a plot to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Hat tip: Shiplord Kirel).

A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who works for the humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders has been arrested for allegedly plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) revealed Thursday.

Mazab Bashir, 25, from Deir el-Balah began working with Doctors Without Borders five years ago.

On April 19, he confessed during a Shin Bet interrogation that for months, he had been collecting intelligence on senior Israeli officials - including Olmert and a number of Knesset members.

Bashir met with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in September 2006, and said that the assassination was meant to avenge the deaths of Palestinian civilians.

Bashir also underwent arms training with the PFLP, and was picked to carry out the planned assassination.

Yes, all they want is peace.

Massive Crowd Urges Olmert to Resign

Looks to be just a matter of time. He cannot survive.

Over 100,000 people gathered in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Thursday night for a mass rally against the government, calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz to resign.

Bereaved parents were the first to address the crowd.

Osnat Vishinsky, the mother of a soldier who was killed in Gaza, said, “We demand a leadership that is not cut off from the nation and that isn’t led by egos and political calculations.

“I call on the government to look into the eyes of the real losers of this failed war, the bereaved families, and ask us for forgiveness.”

Popular fiction author Meir Shalev said Olmert and Peretz had failed and must go home.

"We do not seek compensation, not even remorse for your sins of lack of judgment, your arrogance. You ran headfirst into battle with the gaiety of fresh recruits, without a plan or an objective. You squandered Israel's power of deterrence, you squandered our chances of bringing back the captives and worst of all – you squandered the lives of soldiers and civilians," he said.

Also at Tel-Chai Nation.

(AFP photo)