As he prepares to leave office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert found time to meet with US Mideast envoy George Mitchell during his first official visit to Israel in the Obama administration.
Topping their discussions were issues pertaining to a Gaza ceasefire and related matters but Olmert found time to entertain his high-level guest who is also seeking to advance the White House’s agenda vis-à-vis the PA (Palestinian Authority).
According to reports, the prime minister signaled Israel’s approval to the expulsion of 60,000 of the approximately 250,000 residents of Yehuda and Shomron towards realizing a ‘final status’ agreement between Israel and the PA.
While Olmert already indicated a “massive evacuation” was required in a Rosh Hashanah interview in Yediot Achronot, this marks a step forward towards the implementation of such a move chas v’sholom.
Eastern areas of Yerushalayim would fall under PA rule and religious sites would be under an international jurisdiction, promising access to the three major religions. (We see how the promised access has worked regarding Kever Yosef in Shechem and the Shalom Al Yisrael Shul in Yericho, with both having been burned to the ground numerous times and constantly being defiled by PA residents).
There will be territorial contiguity for PA residents in Yehuda and Shomron, connecting to Gaza via a network of roadways, including a tunnel system. So-called refugees from 1948 will not be granted a right of return, but in the past, the PA has stated there will be no deal without the return of at least some of these peoples’ families.
When asked why these matters are not being formulated into a draft agreement, Olmert explained PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) cut ties until following the elections on February 10th.
Olmert proudly told Mitchell that he heard senior Bush administration officials’ state the current offer “Is the most generous Israeli offer to date towards reaching a settlement”.
There is much anger in Jerusalem from all the candidates seeking the premiership, realizing the prime minister, who has a limited number of days in office, is seeking to commit the incoming government.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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11 Responses
It would have been much smarter to cut a deal to make Livni prime minister, rather than leave Olmert in charge. However the right-wing parties didn’t want to help Livni by making her an incumbant, and probably figured Olmert wouldn’t accomplish anything. The new government isn’t bound legally, and Israel can always make unreasonable demands (e.g. payment in full for replacement housing before any evacuations, reparations for expenses caused by the Arabs refusal to agree to the 1948 borders in 1948, etc., compensation for Afro-Asian Jews leaving Muslim countries, etc.).
do you think he is able to sleep at nite??
Sanhedria Murchevit, Ramot, Ramat Eshkol, Nvei Yakov and French Hill will be under PA authority. That should be interesting….
There are over 350,000 pioneers in pre ’67 borders, should they all move to the Galilee and the Negev?
This confirms my suspicion that Israel is really run by a covert dictatorship.
to bklynmom, all those places your mentioned won’t be included in any agreement, only eastern jerusalem which is full of arabs anyway!! now don’t get me wrong, i also think giving it to them as their own place would legitimate them having weapons etc. But it’s not so dramatic as you’re making it!! And to the administration, yosef’s kever in shchem was never meant to be under international territory, so what’s the connection???
Dear rabbiofberlin (no. 6):
In his latest book, Coercing Virtue, on judicial oligarchies around the world,Robert Bork, a former candidate for Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme court, writes that the Israeli Supreme Court is the most dictatorial of all.
“Pride of place in the international judicial deformation of democratic governments goes not to the United States, nor to Canada, but to the State of Israel. The Israeli Supreme Court is making itself the dominant institution in the nation, an authority no other court in the world has achieved.
Indeed, as Professor Bork notes, the Israeli Supreme Court has gained the power to choose its own members “. . . set aside legislation and executive action when there were disagreements about policy, altered the meaning of enacted law and has created a body of constitutional law despite the absence of an actual constitution.”
That is what I meant when I wrote that the Liberal-Left in Israel runs a crypto-dictatorship, headed by the Supreme Court and its lackey, the Attorney General.
Lets not forget what happened to Sharon for causing the gush katif expulsion, Hashem doesnt even let him in gehenim yet, hes probably being beaten up like Hitler ym”s. Olmert look out
OH! G-D, here we go again
dont panic. it will never happen. the guys an idiot and his days are numbered
to bklynmom, all those places your mentioned won’t be included in any agreement, only eastern jerusalem which is full of arabs anyway!!
Fox, you have NOT been listening to the Arab press, ALL LANDS that were acquired after ’47 belongs to them and their demands have never changed an iota after 20 yrs. of negociating.
When nmoshiach comes,Eretz Yisroel will belong to the Jews. It will be used as a spiritually holy land as Hashem intended. Right now,secular forces run the area,whether so-called Jews,Turks,British,;anyone but those who are our real leaders. When the Torah becomes the law of the land,the B’nei Yisroel will once again become the people of the land (במהרה בימינו)