Olmert Promises Peace In Our Time!

Olmert is in Neville-Neville land. From AFP:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he may be able to make peace with the Palestinians by the end of 2008 as the United States vowed to defend Israel's security during the difficult process.

"If we act decisively together, we and the Palestinians, there is a chance for us to reach real achievements, maybe even before the end of President (George W.) Bush's term," he said at the Saban Forum think-tank in Jerusalem.

"There is no intention to drag out the negotiations without end. There is no reason to again hit the foot-dragging that characterised our talks in the past," the premier said.

Ah yes, in spite of the heroic outreach of the Palestinian leadership to negotiate and engage in the honest give and take of real negotiation...

I don't know what Olmert is drinking, but obviously he got a bottle of it from Condoleezza Rice:

At the same event US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed to defend Israel as it pushes ahead with the peace process, saying that it was time for all sides to make the difficult decisions necessary for a lasting peace.

"All Israelis should be confident that America is fully behind you, that we are fully committed to your security and that you can thus be bold in your pursuit of peace," she said.

Really? I have one word for Rice: Sderot.

Put aside Rice's foolish insistence that Abbas and friends are the moderates. The crux of the matter is addressed by the Palestinian Arabs:

"The statements of some Israeli officials that consider Israeli security more important than the establishment of a Palestinian state hinder an agreement," Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.

"The establishment of a Palestinian state is what will guarantee the security and stability of the whole region," he added.

First, it should be obvious the security of a real and stable state precedes the creation of an artificial country for a group of Arabs who suddenly decide that they are a separate nation. Zuheir Muhsin, former Military Department head of the PLO made the artificiality and ulterior motive of the proposed Palestinian State very clear:

Almost a decade and a half after the first public endorsement of the Palestinian Charter, on March 31, 1977, Muhsin made the following declaration in an interview with the Dutch daily Trouw: "There are no differences between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. We are all part of one nation. It is only for political reasons that we carefully underline our Palestinian identity, because it is in the interest of the Arabs to encourage a separate Palestinian identity. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity serves only tactical purposes. The founding of a Palestinian state is a new tool in the continuing battle against Israel."

Secondly, based on the lie underlying the creation of a Palestinian state--not to mention the obvious inability of Palestinian Arabs to maintain a stable country--the creation of such a state is doomed to only add to the instability in the region.

And yet this is what Rice is rushing to achieve.

[Hat tip: Powerline]

Technorati Tag: Israel and Annapolis and Condoleezza Rice.