Olmert: New Palestinian government a peace partner

[maddezmom]

BEN-GURION AIRPORT, Israel, June 16 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday that a new emergency Palestinian government due to be sworn in on Sunday would be a partner for peace in negotiations.

"A government that is not a Hamas government is a partner (for peace)," Olmert told reporters.

Olmert was speaking on his plane just before taking off for for the United States on a three-day visit when he is due to meet President George W. Bush and other senior officials and with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the secular Fatah faction, is set to swear in an emergency government on Sunday that will bring an end to a U.S.-led aid embargo after he dismissed the previous government led by Islamist group Hamas.

more:http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16187057.htm

[regnaD kciN]

1. Now we'll see if Israel actually DOES something about it...

...or just ignores him as they did for the months between his election and the legislative balloting that resulted in the Hamas victory (which may well have not happened had Palestinians been able to see some progress from having elected a U.S.-approved "moderate" as president).

[Warren Stupidity]

2. Abbas is not the head of anything remotely credible.

Fatah lost at the ballot box and then, with our half-assed support, lost on the ground against the Hamas militias. Abbas's rump government is a joke.

[Scurrilous]

3. PA: Abbas asks Israel to enforce U.S. 'benchmarks'

<snip>

"Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas intends to demand that Israel immediately implement the American "benchmarks" proposal for increasing Palestinian freedom of movement in the territories.

In addition, he will ask Israel to release a massive number of Palestinian prisoners, first and foremost Marwan Barghouti, advisors to Abbas said Sunday.

The advisors said that these steps are necessary to strengthen Abbas' Fatah movement in both the West Bank and Gaza.

The benchmarks proposal, prepared by U.S. security coordinator General Keith Dayton, demands a massive removal of Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank. According to the advisors, that would immediately improve life for every Palestinian.

Similarly, they said, a significant prisoner release would vastly increase Abbas' popularity, while Barghouti in particular  being the most popular Fatah politician could do much to bolster chairman's standing. Barghouti is currently serving five life terms in prison for the murder of five Israeli civilians.

In addition, the advisors said, Israel must not interfere with efforts to recruit, train and arm Fatah's security forces. "Israel's operations completely destroyed these forces in the West Bank," said one. " must allow freedom of movement to members of the Palestinian security services and not impede their training."

And finally, they said, Israel must resume diplomatic negotiations with Abbas, in order to give the Palestinians a diplomatic horizon, and must hand over all the tax revenues it has collected on the PA's behalf, so that Abbas can pay the authority's employees."

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/871996.html