Hi Doves,There is something very interesting going on with the Peace Process the last few days. For weeks now, since President Bush's visit in January we've read articles about progress being made in the negotiations between Israel and the PA. Everything was running along as usual. Here are a few sample news articles from that time period:PA Official reports progress over JERUSALEM in Secret talks:Barkat: Israel and PA have Agreed on plan to divide Capital:Erekat: Everything has been Negotiated:Rice: Talks are progressing well:Rice: Peace Deal possible before the planned May 14th visit by Bush:Olmert, Abbas meet, vow to fast-track Final Status talks:So things were moving forward slowly. Then, Abbas went to see President Bush last week (4/24), and supposedly the meeting didn't go well. Then he goes to Jordan and has an angioplasty done which prompted a few articles and comments about his health and who would replace him if anything happened to him. And now the Jerusalem Post has an article saying that Abbas is ready to turn in his resignation because things are looking so bad. He has reached the conclusion, according to top sources, that there is NO CHANCE that any kind of an AGREEMENT can be reached with Israel before the end of the year!! Why has this CHANGE manifested NOW, right before the 60th Anniversary celebration in Jerusalem? See the news article below for more about this development.Next, we have Olmert. Olmert is now being squeezed by a new investigation while the previous ones are continuing on. If this new investigation sticks, he may end up being booted from the PM position. Likud is already calling for Labor to leave the coalition, and others are calling for Olmert to remove himself from that position now as well. Read the article below to learn more about this latest development. From most everything I've been able to read, if Olmert's coalition fell to new elections, then Bibi would most likely win. He has already said he will not divide Jerusalem.Now, WHY is all this doom and gloom about these two Peace Process Leaders hitting the MSM just now at this time, right before the 60th Anniversary? Is this so that everyone's expectations of a possible Peace Deal happening next week or during President Bush's visit will be extremely low? If so, it would be a huge coup if President Bush (with Rice behind the scenes) was able to get a deal done within the next couple of weeks or while he was there!!Just a few weeks ago everything was all smiles between the parties involved, and now things look hopeless in the temporal. This is a big change for the worse, as far as the Peace Process supporters are concerned. ANY kind of change involving this Peace Process, whether good or bad, large or small, should be of great interest to us at this time. Especially NOW as we wind up the last portion of Jerusalem's 40 (but before 41) years in June 2008. I just wanted to send this as a heads up because change involving the Peace Process is taking place and should be noted.God bless you faithful Doves!Maranatha from your sis,Renee C.May 1, 2008 19:28 | Updated May 1, 2008 19:57Palestinian Affairs: Palestinian losing his authority?Unconfirmed reports in Ramallah this week suggested that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was seriously considering submitting his resignation.
According to the reports, Abbas has reached the conclusion that there is no chance that any kind of an agreement can be reached with Israel before the end of the year. Abbas's belief was enhanced during his last visit to Washington, where he met with US President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Abbas, his aides say, emerged from the talks "depressed and angry" because both made it clear to him that the Palestinians can forget about the possibility that Israel would fully withdraw to the pre-1967 borders.
As one of the aides put it, "The Americans have endorsed the Israeli strategy that there won't be a full withdrawal from the West Bank and the Arab part of Jerusalem. They have also accepted Israel's demand that Jewish settlers would continue to live in large settlement blocs in the West Bank even after a Palestinian state is established."
Another aide said that as far as the PA is concerned, the prospects of achieving a breakthrough in the talks before the end of the year are "zero."
The gap between the two sides remains as wide as ever on most of the crucial issues, especially the "right of return" for the refugees, the future status of Jerusalem and the presence of the settlements in the West Bank, he added.
Abbas flew directly from Washington to Sharm e-Sheikh, where he complained to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak about the US stance. The Americans, he reportedly told Mubarak, "are not serious about achieving an agreement between us and Israel."
Mubarak promised to raise the issue with the US administration and the Israeli government, and advised Abbas to be more patient.
This week Abbas lodged a similar complaint with the Saudis, in the hope that they would also intervene with the US administration.
Abbas's major concern is that failure to reach an agreement in the coming months would seriously undermine his authority, paving the way for a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. One of his top aides quoted him as saying that unless something positive happens over the next few weeks, he will have no choice but to resign and "spend more time with my family and grandchildren."
According to the aide, the Americans and Israelis haven't yet realized that this is perhaps the "last opportunity" to achieve an historic deal between the Palestinians and Israel. "The day will come when the Israelis and Americans are going to miss President Abbas," he remarked. "Whoever comes after President Abbas is not going to be better."
DISILLUSIONED WITH the the Bush administration, the PA has been trying for the past few weeks to persuade the Russians to get involved in the Middle East process - a move that has not been welcomed in Jerusalem and Washington thus far. Before heading to Washington, Abbas stopped off in Moscow, where he urged the Russian leaders to host another peace conference similar to the one that was held in Annapolis, Maryland, late last year.
The Russians told Abbas that in principle they had no problem with the idea, but would prefer to consult with the Americans and Europeans about it. In other words, Moscow's position is that it would agree to host a peace conference on condition that the US and EU were not opposed to it.
Abbas's visit to the US was overshadowed by news about progress on the Israeli-Syrian track and a breakthrough in talks over reaching a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The Arab and Western media paid little attention to his talks with Bush and Rice, focusing instead on Hamas's acceptance of the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire and Turkey's mediation efforts between Jerusalem and Damascus.
"Hamas managed to spoil Abbas's visit by stealing the show," said a Palestinian newspaper editor in Ramallah. "Almost at the same time that Abbas was meeting with Bush, Hamas leaders held a dramatic press conference in Cairo to declare their readiness to accept a truce with Israel. Also at the same time, the media was overwhelmed with reports about behind-the-scenes talks about Israel and Syria over the future of the Golan Heights."
Although Abbas and his aides have publicly welcomed the cease-fire and the reported progress on the Israeli-Syrian track, in private they have expressed deep concern that these two developments would further undermine their power.
Abbas is well aware that a cease-fire would serve the interests of Hamas and consolidate its grip on Gaza. His main concern is that Hamas is being recognized as a legitimate and major player in the Palestinian arena, with its leaders being invited to Cairo and Doha for talks on the future of the Strip. Former US president Jimmy Carter's meetings with Hamas leaders in Ramallah, Cairo and Damascus have also been seen by the PA as part of an attempt to "legitimize" the Islamist movement.
With regard to Syria, Abbas's fear is that the international community will start paying more attention to the possibility of reaching a peace agreement between Israel and Syria than in pursuing efforts to strike a deal between the Israelis and Palestinians. The PA has never considered the Syrian regime as its friend. On the contrary, Syria's continued support for Hamas and other radical groups has always been a source of concern for the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah.
Some PA officials continue to maintain that had it not been for the full backing of the Syrians and their allies, the Iranians, Hamas would never have been able to take full control over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
Even if the 73-year-old Abbas does not quit in the near future, he has less than a year before his term in office expires. Although he has yet to announce his future plans, Abbas has hinted on several occasions that he might not seek another term. His advanced age and his apparent fatigue have encouraged many others to start thinking about running in the next presidential election. One of them is jailed Fatah operative Marwan Barghouti, who is believed to be preparing for his election campaign from behind bars.
n recent weeks, Barghouti has stepped up his political activities by giving numerous interviews to the media and sending letters to Fatah activists and leaders in the West Bank and Gaza. In the 2005 presidential election, Barghouti presented his candidacy, but dropped out of the race at the last minute, after being promised the No. 1 slot on the Fatah parliamentary list. Now he is said to be encouraged by the results of some public opinion polls that give him a lead over other Fatah candidates.
May 2, 2008 9:06 | Updated May 2, 2008 23:18'It is doubtful that Olmert can continue serving as PM'Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's situation is serious and problematic, and it is doubtful that he will be able to continue to serve as prime minister, a senior law enforcement official was quoted by Channel 1 as saying on Friday, after Olmert was questioned under caution by police over what are believed to be new suspicions against him.
The probe began at 10 a.m. and ended around 11:30 a.m.
Olmert was questioned under caution, indicating that police believed their interrogation could result in an indictment.
A court-placed gag-order still prevents the public from knowing the reasons for Friday's probe. However it was believed that the questioning dealt with new suspicions against him.
Olmert's office said the questions dealt with donations raised by an American citizen between 1999 and 2002, before Olmert became prime minister. The money was meant to fund elections for the mayorship of Jerusalem and primaries in Olmert's former political party, Likud.
Media outlets speculated Friday morning that Olmert's expedited interrogation may be due to police fearing Olmert and his secretary of 30 years Shula Zaken coordinated their testimony. Zaken had been questioned in the same case on Tuesday.
Prior to Thursday's surprise summons, Olmert had been scheduled to be interrogated only in several months. The interrogation, a special procedure about which Olmert was notified only 48 hours in advance, was approved by Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz.
A statement by the prime minister's office said "The prime minister answered all of the investigators' questions on the subject, and will continue to cooperate with all legal authorities to the extent he is required to do so." It added that Olmert "is convinced that with the discovery of the truth in the police investigation, the suspicions against him will dissipate."
On Friday morning, several MKs sharply reacted to the news of the possiblity of yet another investigation against Olmert.
The prime minister should suspend himself immediately, Labor MK Shelly Yacimovich told Israel Radio. "Olmert is stuck up to his neck in investigations. We cannot have a prime minister who is serially investigated by police. He is plainly corrupt even without [the public] waiting for a conviction. "In the entire world there was never yet a precedent of a prime minister against whom so many investigations were held," Yacimovich said.
Meretz MK Zehava Gal-On echoed Yacimovich, also saying that Olmert should suspend himself. She said it was apparent that Olmert did not know how to take personal responsibility and that Mazuz should "show him the way" and advise him to suspend himself.
Likud lawmaker Gideon Saar called on the Labor party to quit the Olmert-led government of "serial suspects". "Olmert is the most-investigated prime minister in the history of Israel, and he is surrounded by people whose are related to the greatest number of criminal affairs in the history of Israel," he said.
Yoel Hasson, a Kadima lawmaker, came to Olmert's defense. "From past experiences, we know that all the investigations started with a lot of noise and ended with nothing," he said. "The political system should not get hysterical and take brash political actions that will unsettle the government."
Meanwhile, police opened an investigation against Yediot Aharonot for breaking the gag order and publishing details of the scandal.
Also see Donna's post for more news: