Olmert’s Strategy For Annapolis Summit Revealed

By: David Bedein , The Bulletin

Jerusalem – Yesterday, following the weekly Israel government cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dispatched cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel and his official spokesman Yaakov Galanati to brief the press about the steps that will lead to the Annapolis Middle East Summit on Nov. 26.

Mr. Olmert’s spokespeople emphasized that the Israeli government did not expect to reach any agreement with the Palestinians at the summit and that that the “only thing that would happen there would be declarations,” adding that “Israel will announce its recognition of a Palestinian Arab national state alongside an Israeli Jewish national state, with Israel formally accepting the road map.”

He is locking in the two state solution.. Why is this necessary? Who doubted it. No doubt Abbas will also recognize Israel as the Jewish national state. But what good is that. Only we will be bound. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE, THERE GO THE FOURTEEN RESERVATIONS.

That road map was presented in May 2003 by then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and then-White House National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice to Israel and the Palestinians and adopted by the Israeli cabinet under then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

As a reminder, the Israeli government had added to its acceptance of the road map a statement that

“in the first phase of the plan and as a condition for progress to the second phase, the Palestinians will complete the dismantling of terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front, Al-Aksa Brigades and other apparatuses) and their infrastructure; collection of all illegal weapons and their transfer to a third party for the sake of being removed from the area and destroyed; cessation of weapons smuggling and weapons production inside the Palestinian Authority; activation of the full prevention apparatus and cessation of incitement. … There will be no progress to the second phase without the fulfillment of all above-mentioned conditions relating to the war against terror.”

These conditions are missing in Mr. Olmert’s acceptance of the road map. In other words, the Olmert administration plans to use the Annapolis Middle East Summit to announce to the world that it will recognize an independent, sovereign and armed foreign nation state without a prerequisite that the Palestinian leadership dismantle terrorist organizations.

The Bulletin asked specifically if the Israeli government would demand that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas would be required to dismantle the Al Aksa Brigades of the Fatah organization.

The answer was that the Israeli government had not taken a stand on that subject.

The Bulletin also asked Mr. Olmert’s cabinet secretary if the Israeli government would ask that Mr. Abbas order the cancellation of the Palestinian educational curriculum that is based on Israel’s destruction.

The answer was that the Israeli government had not taken a stand on that subject.

The precedent of Israel allowing a terror entity in its midst is exemplified by the situation in Gaza, where Israel now allows an Arab terrorist organization that rules Gaza to shell the entire southern region of Israel every day with only a tepid military response.

The Bulletin asked Mr. Olmert’s cabinet secretary what the response of the government was to this week’s shelling of Sderot and the Western Negev from Gaza.

His answer: “It was not discussed.”