Olmert's Unique Negotiating Strategy

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…

Investigating Olmert

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….

A Palestinian Minister of Genocide

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.