Vice Premier: Israel to hold talks with Abbas in 'very short while'

[Behind the Aegis]

Israel will soon hold talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Friday.

"In a very short while, we shall start to talk with him," Peres said in an interview with foreign media in Kazakhstan.

Peres said Abbas was a viable negotiating partner who was
legitimately elected by his people. He said Palestinians must choose between the path of compromise that politics offers and the "uncompromising" road of religion.

Abbas is locked in a power struggle with Hamas, which defeated his Fatah party in legislative elections in January. The dispute has triggered factional fighting. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, has refused to cave in to calls by Western donor nations to renounce violence and recognize Israel, despite growing hardship.

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[Lithos]

1. Israel is trying to shore up Abbas

n/t.

[Poll_Blind]

2. Olmert: Palestinian referendum meaningless

From Reuters via ChinaDaily, emphasis mine:

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert dismissed a referendum on a Palestinian statehood proposal as "meaningless" in an interview with British newspapers published on Saturday.

"The referendum is an internal game between one (Palestinian) faction and the other. It is meaningless in terms of the broad picture of chances toward some kind of dialogue between us and the Palestinians," the Financial Times and The Independent both quoted Olmert as saying.
--snip--

  If Peres were the PM, maybe his comments would mean a little more to me. I don't think he's being disingenuous but his comments really have to be taken in the context of his current place in the strata of the Israeli government. It makes for a good read though. But when I see the words "soon" or "shortly" in reference to a move Israel intends to make involving peace I try not to get my hopes up.

  There are many mysteries to the relationship between Peres and Olmert. But it's clear that Peres is suspicious of Olmert's intentions. Amos Elon wrote:

At the swearing-in, the often-concealed character of Israeli party politics came to light when it was officially announced that Peres has, in his lawyer's safe, a signed agreement with Olmert whose contents remain secret. One can hope it has to do with the need to make peace and not with Peres's future power in the new government.

  Peres doesn't have enough political clout to change Olmert's mind or even put appreciable pressure on him. Back in '94 it might have been a different story. But not now. Kadima, at least under Olmert, is like a movie trailer that gets you excited enough to purchase a ticket and attend the showing of what will apparently be a meaningful film. When the lights went down and the movie lit the screen it became apparent that everyone was watching "The General from Kfar Malal, part II". It sounds like Peres got insurance in the form of some agreement between he and Olmert to cover just such a contingency, which is shrewd, but is more likely a firewall to prevent damage to his own legacy than to use as leverage against Olmert.

  There's little evidence of Olmert trying to do anything more than adding a few more stanzas to the fiddle music, first this way then that, so that he can claim he was doing something when Palestine burned.

PB

[Poll_Blind]

3. Did these talks ever occur? n/t

PB