WASHINGTON - It was supposed to be Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's big comeback. A shot with U.S. President George W. Bush in the Rose Garden, an image that would lead all Israeli television viewers to realize that Olmert has come out of the crisis and that his leadership has been accepted anew by the president of the most important world power.
But this week will be remembered not for Olmert's comeback, but for that of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas - the same Abu Mazen whose weakness was a source of laughs for Israeli officials, the same Abu Mazen who lost almost half the Palestinian Authority just last week, the same Abu Mazen who recently called off his meeting with Olmert in anger. That same Abu Mazen has suddenly become the object of Israeli and American hopes.
Since landing in the United States, Olmert's delegation has depicted Abbas as the last bulwark keeping out the flood of Islamic fundamentalism and preventing Hamas from getting a foothold in the West Bank. The Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip caught Israel unprepared, although it shouldn't have surprised anyone.Does this sort of lack of clue sound familiar?Israel's initial reaction was confused, and dealt with the deployment of an international force in Rafah, as though any country wants to send its troops to clash with a well-organized and well-armed terrorist movement. Only a few days later did Olmert provide a different response: The Hamas victory in Gaza is an achievement for Israel, because it creates the opportunity to hold talks with the friendly Fatah government in the West Bank, and breaks the political freeze that resulted from the embargo of the Hamas government.
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