By Stan Goodenough
Jun 19, 2008
Sounding more like a scolding parent than a reigning Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert warned the Hamas terrorists Thursday that they had been given their last chance to avoid an IDF invasion of the Gaza Strip.
According to a report on the website of the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Olmert told the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia that the "Palestinians" in Gaza are "pxxxed off with Hamas" after years of violence.
"I think the strategy of Hamas, which does not want to recognize Israel's right to exist in the first place, and the extremism, and the fanaticism, and the religious dogmatism, is the enemy of peace," Olmert reportedly told the newspaper.
[He THINKS? - Ed note]
"We are at the end of our tolerance with regard to terror in Gaza," he added.
Fox News reports that Olmert has voiced his hope that Israelis in the south will enjoy a period of quiet after months of daily rocket and mortar barrages, but that he has instructed the IDF to be ready for any operation, short or long, large or small, if Hamas breaks its side of the agreement.
Sounding just as out of touch with reality, White House deputy press secretary Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Washington DC he hoped the truce would have a fairy-tale ending.
"We hope this means no more rockets will be fired by Hamas at innocent Israelis as well as lead to a better atmosphere for talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority."
For that to happen, Johndroe conceded, "Hamas has to choose to become a legitimate political party and give up terrorism."