Word: palestinians
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...Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wasn't shy about his preference in last week's Israeli election: Ariel Sharon's heir Ehud Olmert and his centrist Kadima party. Kadima did win, but barely, capturing 29 of the 120 Knesset seats. "I wish Olmert had more seats," Abbas sadly told his aides. "Now he can't give us anything...
Olmert no doubt wishes he had more seats too. Kadima's victory shows that a plurality of Israelis are apparently ready to sacrifice the ancient dream of a Greater Israel--stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River--for peace with a Palestinian state. But with his party far from a Knesset majority, Olmert will need other parties to back his plan for "disengagement" with the Palestinians--pulling out some Jewish settlements on the West Bank and creating permanent borders...
...with Hamas until the militants disarm and abandon their vow to destroy Israel. And Hamas leaders are incensed by one facet of Olmert's plan: if Hamas refuses to accept Israel, the Israelis will draw up permanent borders unilaterally. "Why should we recognize Israel," asks Aziz Dweik, Hamas' new Palestinian Assembly Speaker, "when Israel won't recognize our existence...
...Khartoum for an Arab league summit last week, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas received hourly dispatches on the vote in the Israel elections. There was no secret about who he wanted to win: Ehud Olmert, leader of the centrist Kadima party, and political heir to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has lain in a coma since January. Olmert's party did better than any other; but Kadima scooped up just 29 of the 120 seats in the Knesset. Opinion polls before the vote had suggested that it would win nearly 40. "I wish Olmert had more seats," Abbas told his aides...
...Strong partners are needed to forge a Middle East peace. But neither Abbas nor Olmert, acting Prime Minister and all but certain to continue in that role, fit the bill. As President of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas, a member of Fatah, has to contend with the radical Islamic government of Hamas, which won the Palestinian elections in January. And Olmert must rig up a coalition government with potentially troublesome partners to secure a majority in the Knesset. Until he does that, say advisers, he will not move into Sharon's office. But putting a coalition together is just a start...