Israeli Prime Minister Olmert went to Washington to represent the State of Israel, but no one benefited more from his visit than the Palestinians. No one will suffer more than the Israelis. No wonder he has a 3% approval rating.
"Olmert: Israel to agree to 'more far-reaching' checkpoint removal in West Bank," by Aluf Benn and Shmuel Rosner for Haaretz:
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday in Washington that the cabinet would on Sunday approve the release of tax revenues collected by Israel on the behalf of the Palestinian Authority.Speaking after a series of meetings in the White House, including a two-hour session alone with President George W. Bush, Olmert added that the new Palestinian government should be given assistance and a chance to succeed.
"The new Palestinian government deserves a chance, and also assistance," he said.
More chances and more money. This bankrupt policy has been a disaster since the days of Oslo and Madrid. Time after time, Abbas has proven himself to be nothing more than a corrupt politician and an enabler of terror. Another chance?
Olmert said that Israel would also agree to a "more far-reaching" removal of checkpoints in order to increase Palestinian freedom of movement inside the West Bank.
The dramatic drop in terror attacks originating from the West Bank is in no small part due to checkpoints and an Israeli presence on the ground, which Israel no longer has in Gaza. The removal of checkpoints will only ease the movement of jihad terrorists and the transport of weapons. It will not jumpstart the Palestinian economy. Abbas' corrupt government has long taken care of that problem.
Measures will also be taken to bolster the forces loyal to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, he added.
The same forces that include the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which continues to plan and execute terror attacks against civilians -- both Israeli and Palestinian. The same forces that proved themselves totally ineffective against Hamas. The same forces that have proven that, despite all the American weapons and the crack training of Lt. General Dayton, they are just as effective against Hamas as the French were against the Germans.
Referring to the Gaza Strip, Olmert said: "We will provide all that is necessary to meet humanitarian needs and we will not be indifferent. This suffering has been caused by Palestinians against their own people."
Correct. And that's why we shouldn't be involved at all. Remember the disengagement? It's their problem now. Egypt has withdrawn their consul. Fatah has cut off all talks. Only Israel, the present and future target of Hamas, continues to play Mother Teresa.
Regarding the plight of refugees waiting at the Erez crossing, Olmert said that anyone whom security checks prove is not a terrorist will be allowed to pass through.
Perfect. Export the Gaza problem to the West Bank. This allows Palestinians currently on the other side of the security fence to enter the West Bank. This is a virtual ticket to Israel. Olmert is destroying the same security fence that has saved so many lives. Even Egypt is smart enough to have closed its borders to the Palestinians.
Olmert has once again shown his willingness to sacrifice the safety and security of Israeli citizens for the sake of his political survival. Over the past 15 years, Israeli politicians have waved the peace (surrender) flag any time a distraction was needed to avert political pressure. In light of the Winograd Report, Ehud Barak's sudden rise to power in the Labor Party and the PM's own abysmal approval rating, no one needs a distraction more than Olmert.
There is absolutely no way to rationalize giving more concessions to Fatah. Fatah is no less a terrorist organization than Hamas. The goals are the same. Only the approach differs. To support Fatah is to support terror. To support Fatah is to support the jihadist destruction of Israel.
Crossposted from The American Israeli Patriot.
...Is Olmert a closet Muslim....
If he gets assassinated, I wont shed a tear.
Olmert is a disgrace, and his staying in power is proof that Israel is not a democracy. It is a tyranny where Jewish right-wing dissidents are jailed for the smallest infractions, and where Jews are removed from their land. Just as a previous poster wrote, if Olmert is removed, from power or from this world, nobody in Israel will shed a tear.
It would not suprise me if more of the Isrealis are going to end up saying "enough" and make the move to get Olmert out. I sense major changes over the course of this summer in the issues of leadership in Isreal and Mr. Olmert will end up having to leave.
I hope you are right batgirl. I cant believe with 3 percent approval rating he is still in power today
The country is going to pieces morally, politically and militarily.
The despair is overwhelming, growing day by day. And I speak as one who reads the pamphlets, attends the protests and contributes to the causes.
I'll leave off with King David's Psalm 121:
A song for ascents. I shall raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?
My help is from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to falter; Your Guardian will not slumber.
Behold the Guardian of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is your Guardian; the Lord is your shadow; [He is] by your right hand.
By day, the sun will not smite you, nor will the moon at night.
The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul.
The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from now and to eternity.
Many people complain that the US is tied too closely to Israel and that this is more trouble than it's worth. As much as I don't like the palestinians I'm beginning to think that those complainers have a point-Olmert and his ilk are taking Israel to its grave faster than anything the Islamaniacs have come up with. Unless Israel installs a responsible government not bent on committing national suicide maybe the US indeed should take a hard look at whether trying to save something bent on destroying itself is really worth it. The US can afford to have idiots in power (for now), Israel cannot. I hope Israel does get rid of Olmert before it's too late and we have to watch palestinians celebrate in Tel Aviv the same way they celebrated in Gaza a few years ago.
How come the Golden Dome mosque in Iraq gets blown up repeatedly and the Dome of the Rock mosque doesn't?
Suspicious.
My opinion;
The problem is the EU and the US does not stand up for the laws and protection of their own countries. Instead they are buried in the idea the only answer is to appease the Muslims at all cost. So now the EU countries and US dare not enforce their laws or protect themselves without upsetting the Muslims. Here is Israel surrounded by Muslim vultures with the only option is to use force to defend itself and every time they do, they get hammered on from the EU and US who demand appeasement. The EU overrun with Muslims and the US with its borders wide open, what advice can they give Israel? “Road To Peace”? - no - “Road To Disaster” as I see it.
America is supposedly Israel's closest friend, but over the decades we have pressured Israel to do such stupid things. Israel has become such an America pleaser that they have lost their own moral compass, ability to say no, we will not, or whatever it takes to stand strong.
What we are experiencing with all the illegals in America is a direct result of what we have encouraged Israel to do with the Palestinians. If Mexico were to start sending rocks and suicide bombers into Texas to reclaim land that was once theirs, would we stand tall and not retaliate as the US has pressured Israel to do regarding the Palestinians? For crying out loud. If we practiced what we preach to Israel, we would be in as deep of a mess as they are.
Olmert is not the only idiot who has caved into US pressure. Had the US not pressured Israel to let elections including Hamas be a go in the first place, this mess might not be happening. Had Israeli leadership stood their ground and said no, things would be different.
It is late, and I'm rambling. Part of my frustration is that it seems to me that we have helped to weaken the leadership in Israel, bottom line.
To 'Shy Guy' -
Seconded. I've been following the Jerusalem Post for about two years now, and I too have sensed that 'going to pieces', that 'despair'.
So I will also second you on the Psalm. No. 130 is also appropriate - "out of the deeps I cry unto you, O LORD, O LORD hear my voice"..
Now: any atheists and secularists who haven't already 'tuned out' should ignore what I say next, or else interpret it as a reference to psy-ops and propaganda. I do seriously think that Islam is - has always been - saturated with what we might call 'the occult'. And right now it is hurling heavy-duty curses, not just rockets, at Israel. Hence the spiritual oppression, the confusion, the fear, the disorder. So: chanting Tehillim, in this desperate hour, is probably a very good idea. Clears the mind and cuts through the black fog.
My favourite writer and thinker, Jacques Ellul (you will find his memorial tree in the Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem) "always insisted that the self-utterance and "seizure" of the living God frees individuals from their conformity to a world which blinds and binds, even as it renders them to useful to God and world on behalf of that kingdom which cannot be shaken...Ellul continued to magnify the place of prayer, contending that as we pray God fashions a genuine future for humankind".
And so let us both, Jew and Christian, agree together in earnest prayer for the deliverance of Israel from all his troubles.
I am sad to have to say this, but the EU has now become the world's newest totalitarian state and the European people are now its prisoners.
Political correctness can turn into a prison if allowed and that is what has happened in Europe (oh yes-- that's now "Eurabia").
USA--beware!