Israel Matzav

Olmert and Livni at the precipice

Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Feigele Livni have once again pulled off a bit of 'diplomacy' that has brought Israel to the precipice of a steep diplomatic cliff.

In meetings yesterday with a visiting US congressional delegation, Olmert neither opposed nor favored the massive US arms sale to the Saudis, nor did he demand any protections as the US had originally put into the deal. And Feigele covered up for the ineptitude of 'Palestinian' Fatah 'Prime Minister' Salam Fayyad, telling members of the delegation that the payment of one year's salary to Hamas 'security men' by Fayyad's government was a 'clerical error.'

Rep. Shelley Berkley, a fifth-term congresswoman from Nevada, said Tuesday that Olmert, in a meeting with the delegation a day earlier, had not came out definitively for or against the proposed sale of some $20 billion of weaponry to the Saudis.

"Olmert did not say this was the greatest thing since sliced bread," Berkley said after a press conference in the capital. "What he said was: 'Look, I've got enemies on this side of me, and enemies on that side of me, and it's a matter of priories. The Americans have been working hand-in-glove with my people, and my military people are telling me that even with the sale, we will still retain our qualitative edge - that is their commitment to me.'"

According to Berkley, who is Jewish and a staunch supporter of Israel, Olmert "didn't say he opposes the sale, and he didn't say he supports it. I don't want to make this sound like he was the cheerleader for this; he clearly was not. But on the other hand, if you ask me if he started pounding his hand on the desk and saying, 'Not in my lifetime, not if there is breath in my body‚' he didn't do that, either."

Berkeley is one of 115 US representatives who have already signed a nonbinding resolution opposing the Saudi arms deal. She said at the time that she would oppose the deal, even if Israel did not. [Maybe we should invite her to make aliya and become foreign minister in place of Feigele. CiJ]

"This is something that I think is bad not only for Israel, but for the whole region," she said. "Bush is going to be gone in 18 months, but the Saudis are going to have $20 billion worth of military equipment and state-of-the-art weapons systems."

Meanwhile, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the leader of the 18-member delegation and House majority leader, said that Olmert and Livni had helped convince him that the PA's payment of salaries to Hamas security men in Gaza last week was a "clerical bureaucratic mistake."

Hoyer said he had brought up the issue during meetings with Olmert, Livni and the US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles. "All three said they believed that this was a clerical, bureaucratic mistake, not a conscious effort to help Hamas. In light of the fact that Israel's foreign minister, Israel's prime minister and our consul general all agreed on that fact, Mr. Fayad's representations had more credibility with us when we brought it up with him."

As a result, the 18-member Congressional delegation now believes: Arafat, bad, Abu Mazen and Fayyad, great.

Whose side are Olmert and Livni on anyway?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:54 AM