Ramon: Agreement of principles, not full peace deal, likely in 2008

In other words, he wants another three years of the status quo. Six more Friedman units.

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Ramon told reporters the target was not a fully detailed agreement, but a document detailed enough to set out a program for establishing a Palestinian state over the course of two to three years. He also said he thought the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers would be deposed within a matter of months - an Israeli condition for implementing any peace deal.

Ramon said with Israel's war against Gaza militants escalating, Israel and the moderate Palestinians with whom it is engaged in peace talks needed to intensify their efforts in order to reach a declaration of principles by the end of 2008.

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On Monday, Ramon reiterated his position that Israel must squeeze the Gazans economically while attacking the sources of fire, after giving
civilians there warning.

He repeatedly has stated that he opposes a broad invasion of Gaza, which Israel evacuated in 2005, though it still controls some crossings into the territory. Hamas violently seized control of the territory in June from security forces loyal to Abbas.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953197.html

BERLIN and WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says it is possible to advance significantly the resolution of the issue of borders in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in spite of a shared concern by officials of both sides, and the United States, as to their ability to realistically achieve a detailed agreement by the end of 2008.

The prime minister is convinced that the question of borders is the simplest of the three "core issues" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - the other two being refugees and Jerusalem - and said that sufficient preparatory work had been done for progress to be achieved. "If we do not want to run straight into an impasse, it is best to begin negotiating over other issues like borders," Olmert told reporters in Berlin after completing a three-day official visit to Germany.

"On this issue there is a set of previous understandings and international backing, such as the letter of President Bush which mentioned concentrations of population. All this offers a direction to the resolution of the issue of borders," Olmert added.

Next week Olmert will meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as part of their routine meetings overseeing the negotiations.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/953659.html

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders vowed on Monday to step up their war against Hamas and predicted the Islamists' grip on the Gaza Strip would end within months.

Two days after a rocket from the enclave wounded an Israeli child and prompted dramatic headlines in a country grown used to daily barrages that do little damage, Defence Minister Ehud Barak pledged to step up the Israeli military campaign.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was at "war" and his deputy, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, said he expected Hamas, which seized control in June, to be forced out within the year.

"I believe a combination of steps against Hamas in Gaza will bring an end to the Hamas regime in Gaza," Ramon said. "It will take a few months, maybe it will take a year."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080212/ts_nm/palestinians_israel_corrected_dc

2008: "We will agree to think about thinking about thinking about making some concessions by 2010. Maybe. If you're really good."

(Meanwhile 75,000 new settlers now live in WB.)

2010: "We will agree to think about thinking about making some concessions by 2015. Maybe. But only if _______________________ (fill in the blank.).

(Meanwhile 125,000 new settlers live in WB).

2015: "We will agree to think about making some concessions by 2020. Maybe. But only if _______________________ (fill in the blank.).

(Meanwhile the settler population is now half of the Palestinian population)

2020: "Sorry, we can't possibly leave 750,000 Jewish Israelis under Palestinian jurisdiction. Perhaps Ramallah and Nablus can elected a town council to govern those towns. And we'll remove 2 checkpoints."

You saw what happened when they pulled out of Gaza. That was a picnic next to what will happen when they eventually give up on the West Bank and the rest of it, assuming they do that some day. It will be a religious civil insurrection, at least. It will tear them apart.

from within or from outside.

Israel will not commit suicide like that, but if it is forced from the outside, it will surely be ugly anyway. Remember, Israel has lots of big weapons, and they will not sacrifice themselves willingly again (no marching into the ovens willingly...been there, done that).

Though predicting is a mugs game. But there would be little to win and much to lose in invading Israel, and most of the regional leaders, contrary to the propaganda, are deeply committed to their own self-interest, and little else.

You are, on the other hand, quite right that it will not be done willingly, as I said.