Olmert: Next U.S. administration may not be as accommodating

Posted by Philip Dru on 6/11/08 • Categorized as Israel, Obama Administration

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday said he was uncertain of whether the next United States administration would be as sympathetic toward Israel as that of President George W. Bush, and as such, efforts should be made to take full advantage of the current U.S. leadership.

This coming Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to hold a three-way meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced the planned meeting after the U.S. proposed holding trilateral talks with Israel and the Palestinians in order to accelerate negotiations on the core issues and bridge the major gaps that still exist.Analysts said the corruption scandal dogging Olmert has dramatically reduced the chances of a peace deal before Bush leaves office in January and could force Rice to consider scaling back her ambitions.

Olmert is currently under investigation over suspicions that he illegally received funds from an American millionaire.

So far there are few signs that she is prepared to do so as she leaves Washington on Wednesday on a trip that will take her to Paris for an Afghan donors’ conference on Thursday and then to Jerusalem and Ramallah for her sixth visit this year.

Rice is also expected to have a three-way meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is a key player in determining how far Israel goes to ease Israeli-imposed restrictions placed on the Palestinian residents of the West Bank.

Dspite Olmert’s difficulties, the administration has said it will continue to press for a peace agreement this year – the goal Bush announced at a high-profile peace conference he hosted in November in Annapolis, Maryland.

“The question is not about his desire but about his ability,” said a senior U.S. official of Olmert’s predicament. “I’d rather be criticized for an element of romanticism than for an element of neglect.”

However, Western, Palestinian and Israel officials have all acknowledged privately that Olmert’s corruption investigation could trigger new elections, dimming – if not snuffing out – the chances of a deal this year.

Some analysts said Bush should now concentrate simply on handing over an active peace process to his successor, rather than on striving to produce some kind of a deal that may be impossible to reach given Israel’s political uncertainty.

They suggested Washington also work to improve conditions in the West Bank by strengthening Palestinian security forces and governing institutions and by pressing Israel to remove roadblocks Palestinians say cripple their economy.

Haaretz | Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Reuters | Tuesday, June 10, 2008

 

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