Today's Situation

MEETINGS THAT MATTER, AND SOME THAT DON'T, November 23, 2006

Several meetings are the focus of the Israeli media on Thursday, but there is little hope that any of them will produce any positive results.

Chronologically, the first meeting took place yesterday morning in Jerusalem, where the security cabinet approved the escalation of IDF anti-Qassam operations in the Gaza Strip. Haaretz reports that while the cabinet accepted the Shin Bet's recommendation not to order the army to assassinate Hamas' political leader, it did approve another controversial measure: targeting Hamas institutions.

Later, according to Maariv, Amir Peretz met his ministerial colleague from the Labor Party against the backdrop of increasing pressure on his to step down as defense minister.

Yedioth Ahronoth's Internet site, Ynet, reports that Peretz's phone call Sunday to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas - without Olmert's knowledge - infuriated the prime minister and caused unprecedented strain between the two leaders.

According to Maariv, Peretz was offered an elegant way of ending his spat with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (see below), but he nixed the key condition of the cause: that he steps down as defense minister.

While most Labor ministers believe that Peretz should step down, Israel Radio reports that they have said they would vehemently object to any attempt by Olmert to have been removed from office.

One senior official quoted by Ynet said that, 'Peretz knows he is through; everyone is abandoning him, stabbing him in the back. It won't be surprising if he has a hard time getting reelected even as a leading Knesset member on Labor's list. He must realize that his being defense minister is detrimental on a national level and projects on Labor," the official added.

Yuli Tamir broke her silence and told The Jerusalem Post that she believed Peretz should remain defense minister. 'I think no one can be a better defense minister than him under the current circumstances," Tamir said.

The third meeting also involves Peretz. The defense minister is due to meet his prime minister on Thursday afternoon, for what is being described as a 'routine meeting.' Opinion is split, however, on the significance of the meeting. While Yedioth Ahronoth insists that 'the burning issue is bound to arise,' Haaretz's Mazal Mualem argues that 'the two are not expected to use the meeting as a chance to reconcile.'

Peretz spent the morning in his hometown of Sderot, where, according to The Jerusalem Post, he was forced to run for shelter when a salvo of three Qassmas was fired at the town. A Channel 10 camera crew caught Peretz running for cover with his bodyguards into his home after the Color Red alert system sounded. 'We will get through this,' said Peretz, adding, 'Sderot will be a city of peace.'

In the meantime, aides to Olmert and Abbas met on Wednesday night in Jerusalem, in what is expected to be a prelude to a summit between the two leaders. Olmert's Chief of Staff Yoram Turbowicz and Foreign Policy Advisor Shalom Turgeman met with their Palestinian counterparts, Saeb Erekat and Rafiq Husseini, in what the Palestinian side described as 'positive and important talks.' They added, however, that no date had been agreed for an Olmert-Abbas meeting.

Meanwhile, reports broke late last night that Hamas' political chief had arrived in Cairo from Damascus to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman. The talks are believed to be aimed at completing a deal on a prisoners exchange between Israel and the Palestinians and ways to lift the current sanctions imposed on the Palestinian people.

The sixth meeting that made the front pages of Haaretz and Yedioth is the planned meeting next week in Jordan between U.S. President George Bush and Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki. Haaretz insists that 'his itinerary will not include talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert or Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.' According to the American announcement, Haaretz adds, 'the U.S. president will be minutes away from Jerusalem, by plane, and will not drop by. He did not even invite Olmert or Abbas for a meeting in Jordan, either together or apart from each other.'

Yedioth Ahronoth, however, sees things slightly differently. Shimon Shiffer writes that, 'as part of American efforts to renew peace talks between Israel and the PA, Bush proposed that Abbas and Olmert meet in Amman during the American leader's visit. The proposal was nixed by Olmert, however, who argued that the conditions were not yet right for such a meeting.'

The final meeting making the news in Israeli on Thursday was reported by The Jerusalem Post, which claims that Major General Ido Nehushtan, head of the IDF Planning Directorate, traveled to Paris last weekend and met with French military officials to explain the Air Force's continued overflights in Lebanon. Nonetheless, the paper quotes a high-ranking French military officer as saying that French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets.

The above text was written and compiled by Simon Spungin using newpaper, radio and wire reports, in English and Hebrew.

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