Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
The picture that emerges from the meetings Rice had is one of division in the Israeli leadership, which is similar to the instability of the Palestinian leadership. The visiting secretary of state may rightly doubt whether Olmert’s leadership abilities, and his ability to deliver the diplomatic goods, are any better than those of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
The emerging government position is different from the message of the last Knesset election. In March 2006, Kadima and Labor presented their constituencies with an attitude on the diplomatic front that challenged the Likud outlook and that of the parties on the right. Kadima under Ariel Sharon was behind the disengagement from the Gaza Strip, and Olmert’s Kadima spoke of giving up most of the territory in the West Bank. Labor under Amir Peretz backed a platform similar to that of Meretz on the peace issue.
These two parties came to the Knesset with 49 MKs, substantially larger than all other factions in the plenum. They have a moral and political mandate to stick to the line on whose basis they sought the backing of the voter - to lead the state toward relinquishing the territories and bring an end to the cancerous conflict with the Palestinians. Access the full article>>
