By Ryan Jones
Mar 29, 2006
Following Kadima's election victory Tuesday night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas invited each other to submit to their respective conditions and resume the stalled "peace" process, apparently ignoring the fact that the Palestinian Arabs are now ruled by a recognized terrorist organization firmly committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Said Olmert in a victory speech to Kadima supporters:
"If the Palestinians are wise enough to act [by finally fulfilling their commitment to end anti-Jewish terror], then in the near future we will sit together at the negotiating table to create a new reality."
Speaking to reporters in Khartoum, Abbas countered by urging Olmert to:
"...abandon the option of ?unilateral agreements?...[and] choose a policy of peace and return to the negotiating table."
It appeared on the surface that Israel has all the leverage in this situation, as Olmert warned Abbas he will not "wait forever" for compliance.
"If they do not [act], Israel will take its destiny in hand."
It was this assumed position of strength that Kadima used to garner so many votes Tuesday.
As media analyst Aaron Lerner pointed out, the reality is something different:
"Olmert has given the Palestinians a choice: either they fight terror now and then negotiate with Israel from the current lines or don't fight terror now and Israel will carry out a massive retreat and then later at some future time they can then negotiate with what is left of Israel."
Either way, with or without "Palestinian" compliance, Israel is going to meet the Arabs' demand to clear the biblical hills of Judea and Samaria of Jews. And when it does, the true benefactors will be the new blood-soaked Hamas rulers of "Palestine."