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Excerpt;
Ehud Olmert did indeed receive a magnificent reception at the White House last month, and he must have been delighted when President George W. Bush signaled his intention to retain with him the warm relationship built up with Ariel Sharon.
In turn, Olmert acquitted himself with distinction, maximizing his communication skills. He delivered a magnificent address to the joint houses of Congress and his responses at the press conference were exemplary.
But aside from the important commitment by Bush to defend Israel against Iran, the warm messages of goodwill cannot conceal the fact that the visit failed to achieve any genuine political progress.
In this environment Bush softened his earlier vague reference to recognizing the reality of Israeli settlements, a reference Sharon had misleadingly spun as support of Israel’s right to annex the major settlement blocs. On this occasion Bush welcomed Olmert’s “bold initiative” but stressed that “no party should prejudice the outcome of final negotiations on a final status
agreement.”In other words, don’t rely on US or international recognition of unilaterally defined borders.
In a somewhat surrealist reverse scenario, it was therefore the Israeli prime minister who desperately tried to persuade the administration to endorse additional unilateral withdrawals.
Continue reading Olmert Caves in to Bush
Commentary;
Olmert, with his inflated ego, may truly think that “nothing can stop me.”
But he can be stopped in numerous ways. Here are a few;
Firstly, Bush may laud his boldness, but expect NO MONEY from the US, for the war in Iraq is costing hundreds of billions of dollars annually.
And American never committed to politically agree to retention of any part of historic Jewish land beyond pre-67 borders. Not that any world power matters or makes a difference when the Jews are united as one.
Finally, the chickens of the “Shallowness of Sharon-Olmert Retreat Thinking” seem to be coming home to roost as, according to polls this week, at least 56 percent of Israelis oppose Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s convergence plan. MB