Israel to review ties with Abbas over PA unity government deal

Israel never miss an opportunity to find someone unsuitable for negotiating with. For months they have pushed Abbas as the only moderate in town and insisted that they would not deal with the democratically elected Hamas government. So Abbas and Hamas went into serious negotiations and worked out a painstaking deal for power sharing.

However, the Israelis are now stating:

Before (the Mecca Agreement) was signed, Israel maintained contacts with Abbas, who it presented as a moderate, while boycotting the Hamas government. The tripartite summit, which was scheduled during Rice's previous visit to the region, was meant to restart the diplomatic process. But following the Mecca Agreement, the lines distinguishing the moderates from the extremists among the Palestinians have become blurred.

You really couldn't make this stuff up. Israel has, once again, found a partner for peace impossible to find.

During Tuesday's preparatory meeting, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the heads of the intelligence agencies, Olmert expressed his view that Israel does not have to take the lead in moves against the new Palestinian government or in ceasing contacts with Abbas. Instead of Israel positioning itself at the forefront of the struggle, he said, it should conduct a diplomatic campaign to demand that the international community insist on the Palestinians meeting the three conditions put forth by the Quartet: recognizing Israel, relinquishing violence and honoring previous agreements between Israel and the PLO.

In other words, Israel should continue to insist on the one thing they are sure they will not be given so that Israel can continue to claim that they wish peace but are unable to find a willing partner for peace.

I mean the list of people that Israel can't negotiate with is quite staggering. She couldn't negotiate with the entire PLO, then she couldn't negotiate with Arafat, then she couldn't negotiate with Hamas, and now we find that she's managed to find a reason to exclude even Abbas from the negotiating table. All the while claiming that she's keen to find a "partner for peace".

Of course, the problem for Israel is that the Mecca Agreement was negotiated in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudis - because of the clout they possess in the White House - aren't going to prove as easy to push around as the Palestinian Authority.

Bush needs to keep Saudi Arabia sweet if they are to remain part of his "Axis of moderates" opposing Iran's nuclear plans, so I expect Olmert will have to walk on egg shells if he's to be able to slink away from negotiations that he blatantly wants to avoid.

As I pointed out here, Olmert would really love to have a meeting which concentrates on Palestinian terrorism rather than any discussion of refugees or a return to the 1967 borders.

So the ball now moves into Condi's court. Will she buy this hogwash or is she serious about solving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis?

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tag: Israel, Palestine, US foreign policy, Olmert, Rice, Quartet, Abbas, Hamas