Second verse, same as the first

I should just rerun my previous posts.

Abbas is making many demands of Israel, and once again is not promising anything of substance in return. Is he going to stop Al Aqsa from trying to murder Israelis at every opportunity (including sending kassams from Gaza)? Is he going to give up Zacharia Zubedei, one of the most-wanted terrorists in the West Bank, and the man who hoisted Abbas on his shoulders when Abbas ran for president? Is he going to shut down the bomb shops in the West Bank?

No. But here are his demands:

Al-Hayat, the London based newspaper, reported that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas demanded of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to release, inter alia, Marwan Barghouti, former Secretary-General of Fatah in the West Bank.

According to these sources, Abbas hoped that Barghouti’s release would restore Fatah’s popularity among the Palestinian public and give the movement a boost in the West Bank.

Abbas had other demands for Olmert at the summit. Sources said that he asked Olmert to drastically reduce IDF presence in West Bank cities, remove major roadblocks near cities and start lifting limitations on Palestinians’ movement in the West Bank.

He also demanded that the Israeli government transfer the tax money it was holding, as agreed.

And with all of this, does he at least have an idea on how to shut down Hamas in Gaza? Does he concur with Israel on denying aid to Gaza?

No.

Mahmoud Abbas told al-Hayat reporters that he did not agree to the financial boycott on the Gaza Strip. This differs from the opinion, commonly held in Jerusalem, that Fatah wanted Israel to crack down even further on the Strip, thereby damaging Hamas.

In other words, nothing has changed. Abbas, the weakling, is going to hold onto his power at all costs, and is also—as he has always been—part of the group that wants to destroy Israel and put a Palestinian state in her place.

Yaakov Kirschen has what I think is the perfect analysis of the current leadership of Israel:

In assessing our situation we need to remember that our main enemy at this point in history is Iran (Persia). Let’s not forget that the Persians invented the game of chess. They now control Gaza on our south and they’ve got another piece (Hizbullah) on our north.This deadly game requires our best and our brightest.

And that is just not Ehud Olmert.

Who are Israel’s best and brightest? Because she needs them, and fast.