GRANTING THEIR ASPIRATION, WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT:

Olmert Urges Palestinians To Qualify For Talks (William Branigin, 5/25/06, Washington Post)

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday urged the Palestinian Authority to meet his terms for peace talks or face a unilaterally imposed settlement in the West Bank, and he warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would constitute "an intolerable threat" that he said "cannot be permitted to materialize."

In an address to a joint meeting of Congress a day after talks at the White House with President Bush, Olmert acknowledged Palestinians' "national aspirations" and asserted that Israel has no desire to rule or oppress them.

But he said Israel cannot wait indefinitely for the Palestinians to become acceptable negotiating partners, and he outlined a plan for unilateral "disengagement" from the West Bank that would involve redrawing Israel's final borders to include major West Bank settlements and a "united Jerusalem" as the capital.