DEALING FROM WEAKNESS:

Olmert to meet with Abbas soon (AP, 9/28/06)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in interviews broadcast Thursday that he hopes to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in coming days for what would be their first real talks since he came to power. [...]

Olmert said he hoped a meeting with Abbas would lead to broader peace talks and ultimately a deal to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Peace talks have been frozen for years. Israel cut off contacts with the Palestinian Cabinet after the election of Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction. However, Israel has said it would maintain ties with Abbas, of the more moderate Fatah Party, who was elected separately last year. Abbas has been trying to pressure Hamas to soften its stance.

If no peace deal can be worked out, Olmert said in the interviews he would carry out his plan to unilaterally withdraw from most of the West Bank while strengthening Israel's hold over large settlement blocs. However, Olmert's aides have said he has abandoned the plan following his plunge in popularity after the war in Lebanon, which killed more than 150 Israelis and more than 850 Lebanese.

Recent polls showed that less than a quarter of Israelis were happy with Olmert's job performance and nearly 70% disapproved of his actions as prime minister.

Olmert presented Israel's performance in the war as a clear victory — an assessment disputed by many in Israel and Lebanon — and said he did not foresee another violent conflict beyond minor border skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah in the near future.

Sad what he's done to the strong hand that Ariel Sharon dealt him.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 28, 2006 7:55 AM