Word: olmert
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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There appeared to be a veritable flock of lame ducks gathering in the Middle East last weekend, as Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and then with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Blair just officially inaugurated the twilight of his tenure, announcing that he will quit within the year amid mounting unpopularity, especially over his close ties with the Bush Administration. Olmert has been badly - critically, even - wounded by his inconclusive war in Lebanon, and his election promise of redrawing of Israel's borders by withdrawing from some West Bank settlements...
...Still, following their talks with Blair, it was announced that Olmert and Abbas were willing to hold direct talks with one another. More significantly, perhaps, on Monday Abbas concluded an agreement with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, to form a government of national unity, on a political platform that includes the 2002 Beirut proposal of the Arab League - a document that offers Israel full peace with the Arab world in exchange for a withdrawal to its 1967 borders...
...idea of talks between Olmert and Abbas - backed, now, by a de facto gesture recognizing Israel, at least in its 1967 dimensions, by Hamas - may tempt observers to expect a long-awaited resumption of the peace process. But grounds for optimism are limited. From Blair to Haniyeh, all the politicians involved in the latest round of talking have domestic political reasons for signaling progress, but it's unlikely that any has the necessary combination of political will and authority to deliver...
...Ehud Olmert may be in an even weaker position than his British counterpart. The prevailing view among Israelis that their government failed to achieve its objectives in the recent Lebanon war has left him fighting for his political life. Even the leaders of his own party have agreed that the unilateral withdrawals from the West Bank that had been a centerpiece of his campaign strategy are not politically feasible for the foreseeable future. Meeting with Abbas may be a way of signaling to Israelis that he is trying to forge ahead toward resolving the conflict, even though Corporal Gilad Shalit...
What about Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert...