Israel Matzav

Olmert's not as dumb as we thought he was - he just can't say no

Ehud K. Olmert has come in for a lot of criticism since the weekend, when he agreed to a truce cease fire hudna in the Gaza Strip that has given 'Palestinian' terrorists time to rearm and regroup, against the advice of his own military. But if Middle East Newsline is correct, Olmert's hand was forced... by Condi Rice....

The Bush administration has pressed Israel not to respond to Palestinian missile fire.

Officials said the White House and State Department demanded that Israel end operations in and withdraw from the Gaza Strip in exchange for a Palestinian Authority agreement to a ceasefire. They cited the scheduled visit by President George Bush to Jordan on Nov. 29, where he planned to meet Iraqi, Jordanian and perhaps Palestinian leaders over the next two days.

"[Israeli Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert was first told of the ceasefire proposal when he came to Washington earlier this month," official said. "Last week, Condy [Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice] called Olmert and said she expected an end to Israeli military operations."

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Elliot Abrams was expected to meet Abbas over the next day in Amman. Officials said Abrams would then issue a recommendation regarding the feasibility of a meeting between Bush and Abbas. They said the U.S. president was not expected to meet Olmert.

What's not clear here is whether the 'officials' are American or Israeli. The article is datelined Washington, which implies that it was American officials. The report would certainly be more credible if it came from Americans, than if it came from Israelis who might have an interest in making Olmert look a little less bad.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:06 PM