In a completely unabashed admission that Ariel Sharon's posturings about the purpose and advantages of the Gaza pullout are just so much empty rhetoric, Ehud Omert acknowledges that Israel expects nothing in return for its sacrifice.
Israel's upcoming pullout from the Gaza Strip is not a "trade-off" for keeping the West Bank, and the government is ready to resume negotiations with the Palestinians after the unilateral withdrawal based on the internationally backed 'road map' peace plan, Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday.
His remarks, coming just one week before Israel is slated to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza, as well as four others in the northern West Bank, were the latest indication yet that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is planning further withdrawals in the West Bank in the future.
Olmert, you will recall, is "tired of fighting, . . . tired of being courageous, . . . tired of winning, . . . tired of defeating our enemies." So although the Gaza expulsion was supposed to be Israel's last response to the palestinians when Ariel Sharon got tired of waiting for a peace partner, his government is now "ready to resume negotiations with the Palestinians" on what's left afterward.
Because they're tired, you see.
Will someone please wake me up from this nightmare?
