Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Is Olmert Selling Abbas A Bridge? (Updated)

Olmert has an offer for Abbas:
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made what he hopes is an offer that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas can’t refuse: a final status deal that can be implemented in stages, with a long “shelf life.”

The prime minister is trying to forge a “shelf agreement” with the PA before he steps down from office, having said he will resign after his Kadima party chooses a new leader next month.

The deal includes a pullout from 93 percent of Judea and Samaria, additional land in the Negev to make up the difference, free passage between Gaza, Judea and Samaria without security checks and permanent borders.
What could be simpler?!
Oh, one more thing:
The free passage would be conditioned on Abbas’s retaking control of Gaza from the Hamas terrorist organization.
At least Olmert didn't tell Abbas that he had to bring back the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West...

Did I forgot to mention:
Under the proposal, the so-called PA Arab “right of return” was rejected outright, and exists only in context of a “return” to PA territory.
So getting back to the beginning of the article--just how is this an offer that Abbas cannot refuse?
How is Abbas supposed to get back Gaza?
How is Abbas going to be able to reject the Arab "right of return" and retain the respect of the Palestinian Arabs, not to mention the Arab states that he needs for the financing to keep his government afloat?

What is Olmert up to?

Update: That didn't take long:
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected an Israeli peace proposal because it does not provide for a contiguous Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, Abbas's office said on Tuesday.

..."The Israeli proposal is not acceptable," Abbas's spokesman said. "The Palestinian side will only accept a Palestinian state with territorial continuity, with holy Jerusalem as its capital, without settlements, and on the June 4, 1967 boundaries."

Hmmm...you want fries with that?

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