Olmert Is Not Even Trying

Michael Oren: "The Olmert government will have to go vast lengths to portray this arrangement as anything other than a strategic and moral defeat."

Olmert: "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned on Wednesday that the imminent Gaza truce with Hamas would be fragile and may not last long."

If Olmert is not even trying to portray this as worth the time to achieve, just what is the point?

Michael Oren writes today in The Wall Street Journal:

The Egyptian-brokered cease-fire yields Hamas greater benefits than it might have obtained in direct negotiations. In exchange for giving its word to halt rocket attacks and weapons smuggling, Hamas receives the right to monitor the main border crossings into Gaza and to enforce a truce in the West Bank, where Fatah retains formal control.

If quiet is maintained, then Israel will be required to accept a cease-fire in the West Bank as well. The blockade will be incrementally lifted while Cpl. Shalit remains in captivity. Hamas can regroup and rearm.

The Olmert government will have to go vast lengths to portray this arrangement as anything other than a strategic and moral defeat. Hamas initiated a vicious war against Israel, destroyed and disrupted myriad Israeli lives, and has been rewarded with economic salvation and international prestige.

Tellingly, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who once declared Hamas illegal, will soon travel to Gaza for reconciliation talks. Mr. Abbas's move signifies the degree to which Hamas, with Israel's help, now dominates Palestinian politics. It testifies, moreover, to another Iranian triumph.

The negatives in this thing are clear. The positives are...where?

Update: How pointless is this truce? Noah Pollak reminds us:

He has agreed to a tahdiyya with Hamas, but notably without the release of Gilad Shalit, which up until this moment had been the central (and non-negotiable) condition of any such agreement.

Instead, Israel gets bupkes.

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