News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and  Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are weak and desperate for political success, journalist Steven Erlanger wrote in the International Herald Tribune. They are following the plan of American President George W. Bush, who has set his sights on setting up the outline for a new Arab state on the land of Judea, Samaria and Gaza before he leaves office in January, 2009.

However, Brookings Institute researcher and former American Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk warned that if American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "goes for final status, she will drive it into the ground," he said. A premature pullout of Israel would duplicate the scenario after the expulsion from Gaza two summers ago, would leave behind chaos and would leave the Tel Aviv area open to rocket attacks, according to the analysis.

Indyk said that the U.S. may try to set up an agreement in principle, leaving the reality for later.