It is almost too absurd to believe.

The headline in Ha'aretz the other day just about said it all: "Peretz Orders Fence Route Reviewed with Palestinians in Mind."

Silly me. And I thought the entire purpose of the security fence was to protect Jews from terrorism. Who knew that its route would also be dependent on what is most convenient for our foes also?

And yet, as the Ha'aretz article makes clear, that is precisely one of the considerations being taken into account: "Defense Minister Amir Peretz has decided to review the route of the separation fence to make sure that it allows for the everyday needs of the Palestinian population."

Now don’t get me wrong – it is perfectly fine to try to accommodate the basic needs of Palestinian civilians, but what about "the everyday needs of the Jewish population" living in Judea and Samaria?

After all, thousands of them are being left "beyond the fence", their communities essentially cut off from the rest of Israel. And yet, no one in the Government seems to care too much about the needs of these loyal, upstanding and tax-paying Jewish citizens of the Jewish state.

Don’t they deserve some consideration too?

He is a prominent businessman and philanthropist, well-known to his French countrymen and to statesmen alike, and he even received an honorary doctorate this week from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

But don't let all that fool you. Baron Eric de Rothschild is still the purveyor of some of the most inane opinions you are ever likely to hear (outside Israel's present governing coalition, of course).

In an interview last week with the Jerusalem Post, he laid bare his outlook on everything ranging from Israeli Beduin to Jacques Chirac. Here is one of Mr. Rothschild's choice pearls of wisdom: "The one thing you can't say is that France is an anti-Semitic country."

Oh, really? Tell that to the thousands of French Jews moving to Israel each year who are fleeing the hatred back home. Or to the family of Ilan Halimi, the 23-year old French Jew who was tortured and murdered several months ago by anti-Semitic thugs.

But perhaps Mr. Rothschild's most ridiculous comment of all had to do with Jewish charitable giving. The Post story reported as follows: "the priority for Jewish giving, he said, should be helping Israeli Arabs."

That's right. Despite Israel's crumbling educational system, underdeveloped development towns, and myriad other social and economic problems, Mr. Rothschild nonetheless thinks that the Jewish people's number one philanthropic priority should be helping the Arabs.

All one can say in the face of such astonishing foolishness is that while Mr. Rothschild may indeed be a "baron", it would seem more appropriate to refer to him as France's own Dr. Dumb.

The people of Israel owe a debt of gratitude to Ehud Olmert.

In a speech today to the British Parliament in London, Israel's Prime Minister unwittingly succeeded in summing up everything that is wrong with our nation's policy towards the Palestinians in a mere two sentences.

With nary a trace of sarcasm, here is what Mr. Olmert had to say about his plan to withdraw from most of Judea and Samaria while retaining control over a handful of so-called settlement blocs:

"There was no 'Zionist' reasoning here, as you might be inclined to argue. There is an honest, real will on my part to give a lot and receive little in return."

Yes – you read that correctly. But just in case you didn't, here it is again: "There was no 'Zionist' reasoning here, as you might be inclined to argue. There is an honest, real will on my part to give a lot and receive little in return."

And so, the two key principles upon which Mr. Olmert's policy rests, based on his own remarks, appear to be the following:

1 – no "Zionist" reasoning guides Israeli decision-making

2 – Israel will give up a lot with the aim of receiving little in return

And all this time, we were wondering if the guy knew what he was doing…

Ehud Olmert is in trouble.

Despite the Government's best efforts to avoid a serious inquiry into its handling of this summer's Lebanon war, it now seems all but certain that wide-ranging investigation will, at last, take place.

Speaking before the Knesset State Control Committee today, State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss made clear that he has every intention of conducting a thorough examination of the Government's conduct of the war.

When asked if he would question the Prime Minister too, Lindenstrauss said, "We will investigate everyone who had a hand and leg in the war" (it sounds better in the Hebrew original). He added that he would be submitting an interim report to the Committee soon containing his initial findings.

This is especially important, because under Israeli law, only two bodies have the power to order the establishment of an official state commission of inquiry: the Government itself, and the Knesset State Control Committee.

Hence, once Lindenstrauss submits his report, the Committee can then move forward with creating a state commission – a step that is likely to turn up the pressure on Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and others to resign. Which is precisely what most of the public is clamoring for.

Stay tuned….

Since assuming control over the Palestinian Authority (PA), the Hamas terror group has been making it abundantly clear that their strategic goal remains the destruction of Israel.

Rockets continue to be fired at the Jewish state on a near-daily basis, and Palestinian terrorists persist in their efforts to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks.

Now, if all that weren’t enough, the new Palestinian Foreign Minister has declared that his government’s policy objective will be to replace Israel with a Palestinian state stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

Speaking at his first meeting with his subordinates at the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said that Israel should not be recognized as a state and that the PA’s aim is to establish a Palestinian state in place of Israel.

This is nothing less than a blatant call to mass murder, and it is time for the international community to stop ignoring Hamas’ lethal intentions. Al-Zahar’s rhetoric should not be dismissed as mere words, if only because Hamas has shown in the past that it is dedicated to killing as many innocents as possible.

Israel must take action as soon as possible to remove Hamas from power and topple the PA. Failure to do so will only result in still more unnecessary violence and bloodshed.