I insist Olmert must be deposed.

Syria will next demand that all Israelis leave or kill themselves and that Miami Beach be returned to the Ummah.

The ridiculous Annapolis “peace in our time” conference continues careening toward disaster ...

More sharp verbiage from Charles, love it!

Remember that whatever you do in life, 90 percent of it is half mental.
- Yogi Berra (1925 - )

I suspect they will bring a few hostages to the negotiating table in exchange for the re annex of Lebanon

Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the north and a long-time foe, had insisted the meeting also deal with the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Yeah, well I insist I get a pony for Christmas.

Saudi Arabia Marks 136th Beheading of 2007

[Link: www....]foxnews.com/story/0,2933,312768,00.html

I predict a disaster in the making. There can be no positive outcome for this meeting, it is a setup and Israel is the red headed bastard step child. This meeting must end with the downfall of the traitor Olmert and his band of idiots. Either Israel stands up to the US and Pres Bush or it will set itself up for its demise. Although Israel will never be destroyed, there will be a terrible price to pay.

Oh, I don't know. This might be a golden opportunity to ask the Syrian delegate just exactly what was at that site that the Israelis supposedly "didn't" bomb.

Rollin' out the red carpet for another Ba'athist dictator. Oy vey!

A Million Syrians in the Golan?
Middle East affairs expert Dr. Guy Bechor says that if the Golan is given over to Syria, Syria will immediately begin populating the area with hundreds of thousands of its citizens, "thus forming a type of Gaza on our northern shoulder." As a result, Bechor continues, the Galilee - the heavily Arab-populated area of northern Israel just beneath the Golan Heights - will come under Syrian influence, possibly leading to Galilee-originating Arab terror attacks on the rest of Israel.

[Link: www.israelnationalnews.com...]

I'm not sure I can stomach watching the news for the next week. Hearing Olmert profess his willingless to sell Israel down the river for a Mohammedan-hudna.

Tar and feathers! Tar and feathers for Olmert!

/I actually have a slightly more violent remedy in mind but I'm desperately trying to keep my emotions in check. :-/

Former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Ya'alon explains why Olmert is agreeing to surrender Israel:

'Corrupt media protecting politicians'

"Politicians have learned that if they lead a move of disengagement, realignment or caving in, the mainstream of public opinion, and I refer chiefly to the media, will support them," Ya'alon said.

"I read the words of some journalists who are considered to be senior [members of the press]. There is corruption there that I think brings politicians to realize that if they want to be protected by the media and receive 'reprieves' for professional failures and moral issues, they should proceed in certain directions. I certainly suspect that we are now experiencing such a case."

[Link: www.jpost.com...]

Considering at the least Syria was constructing a nuclear reactor, though I found the hypothesis of bomb assembling plausible, this is so wrong. I'm fed up with Bush working on his legacy at the expense of Israel.

re: #6 MandyManners

Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the north and a long-time foe, had insisted the meeting also deal with the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Yeah, well I insist I get a pony for Christmas.

Nice place for a new Six Flags amusement park, see those burqas flying in the wind.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart President Bashar Assad in a telephone conversation on Sunday underlined the need to further support Palestinian nation. Only the real representatives of the Palestinian nation are eligible to decide their own destiny, said the two president.

The two presidents also discussed latest regional and
international developments mainly those concerning Palestine and underlined that the upcoming Annapolis conference is doomed to failure.

The US-sponsored Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland, is to be held on November 7.

[Link: www2.irna.com...]

re:

re:

So it is written, so shall it be........

A lot of bad things are clearly happening. That is not in dispute.

So much of this has been available information for a couple Milena. Why is everyone so surprised?

re:

So is Israel trying to give Syria a state too? Wow everyone gets a state these days.

re:

Y'all realize that if, before the US delegation and Israeli delegation gets to the conference, we have a really target rich environment!

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I think this warrants some Monty Python...

"Britain's great pre-war joke..."

[Link: www.videosift.com...]

Not from youtube, which isn't working for some reason...

If it doesn't work, here's the script.

[Link: www.jumpstation.ca...]

Lemmesee Now -

Syria believes that Israel is at a weak point and is coming to Annapolis to negotiate a return of the Golan Heights. Pray tell - which nation just dropped a big "CAN of WHOOPASS" on the other's installation? Oh yeah,
it was the weak one - that's right, thanks for reminding me.

-S-

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"Remember the one who brings you the invitation is the traitor". I know pa!
I always thought it would be Gates. No Rice was always smarter, it's the smart move. After the conference I'll meet with fatah, hamas, Hezbollah, and all the other heads of the terrorist groups.

Ops--I was dreaming!

re: #16 itellu3times

re: #6 MandyManners

Syria, Israel’s neighbor to the north and a long-time foe, had insisted the meeting also deal with the future of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Yeah, well I insist I get a pony for Christmas.

Nice place for a new Six Flags amusement park, see those burqas flying in the wind.

Wouldn't that expose an ankle or two?

This conference is a setup. I hate to say it, but Condi and the President are desperately seeking a legacy moment here. They will gang up on the Israelis to prove that they aren't Arab baby-killers. And the Israelis are being led to their slaughter by Masada-Lite Olmert. Aren't there any MEN left in Western countries?

Will the last Jew out of Israel please close the Aron Kodesh?

re:

re: #25 realwest

re:

re:

re: #27 Dr. Shalit

Lemmesee Now -

Syria believes that Israel is at a weak point and is coming to Annapolis to negotiate a return of the Golan Heights. Pray tell - which nation just dropped a big "CAN of WHOOPASS" on the other's installation? Oh yeah,
it was the weak one - that's right, thanks for reminding me.

-S-

Their hatred of Israel stems partially from the fact that no matter what they do, Israel continues to kick their collective ass when necessary, no matter how outnumbered they may be.

And I completly buy the story that's circulating that the Syrian box they bombed was a nuke factory as opposed to a reactor. Compared to the Nork facility, the two locations looked nothing alike and the fact that the Syrians buried the remains of the building days later is pretty telling. If it wasn't nukes, it was at the very least something they REALLY didn't want anybody else to know about. It could also have been for chemical weapons.

Either that, or the Syrians were making illegal red fiestaware, but I suspect that's not the case.

re:

re: #31 THX-42

This conference is a setup. I hate to say it, but Condi and the President are desperately seeking a legacy moment here. They will gang up on the Israelis to prove that they aren't Arab baby-killers. And the Israelis are being led to their slaughter by Masada-Lite Olmert. Aren't there any MEN left in Western countries?

I don't believe it's about a legacy for Bush and Rice.

Clinton was seeking a legacy. He didn't care about either the Israelis or the Arabs- just about himself.

Bush and Rice care. Bush and Rice have picked sides. Bush and Rice support the Arab cause. Although I will admit that in their hearts probably neither believe- or maybe care- about the truth- that the fulfillment of the Arab Cause is - in its final conclusion- the end of Israel.

re:

#35 opinionated.

Que Faire?

re: #38 Opinionated

re: #31 THX-42

This conference is a setup. I hate to say it, but Condi and the President are desperately seeking a legacy moment here. They will gang up on the Israelis to prove that they aren't Arab baby-killers. And the Israelis are being led to their slaughter by Masada-Lite Olmert. Aren't there any MEN left in Western countries?

I don't believe it's about a legacy for Bush and Rice.

Clinton was seeking a legacy. He didn't care about either the Israelis or the Arabs- just about himself.

Bush and Rice care. Bush and Rice have picked sides. Bush and Rice support the Arab cause. Although I will admit that in their hearts probably neither believe- or maybe care- about the truth- that the fulfillment of the Arab Cause is - in its final conclusion- the end of Israel.

I think it's less of a legacy moment and more of a 'hey, at least we tried' moment.

There may -- just possibly may -- be the Law of Unintended Consequences at work here.

For too long, the Israeli public was just waiting for the day coming before long when Olmert and the slimy Kadimite government will fall of its own rotteness.

The outrage of Annapolis has awakened that too-passive public to the terrible peril of just sitting and waiting for that frabjous day.

Every day here there are more and more public activities, protests, and formation of new political pro-Israel groupings. True, they have not yet had an affect, but at least they are starting. All that is needed to get the national revival rolling is the right leader.

And a lot of those who are no longer expecting Olmert to rot away, and also no longer expecting Netanyahu to wake up out of his Rip Van Winkle mode.

The arousal has been late in coming, but do not despair that it may be too late.

As long as expectations are realistic and Israel has her eyes open, I don't have a problem with pushing unlikely partners into peace talks. The emphasis for Israel should be on establishing the prospects rather than locking themselves into a suicide pact, and assessing and influencing the likelihood of Arab states truly buying into a peace deal for the sake of peace. Right now the likelihood is not great, so it would not be a good idea for Israel or the US to treat that as a given and assume that the Arab position is transparent. Rather, the Arab states need to demonstrate their integrity just as Israel did with hitnatkut in Gaza. A credible breakthrough (absolutely before Israel shakes any hands) would be for those states to recognise Israel unconditionally within any given uncontested boundaries. That must be Israel's bottom line precondition for anything. It says: "These talks are not a cynically opportunist step in a program for the destruction of Israel."

re:

re:

Irony, since down the line in the course of advancing the ummah, Assad's type of "Islam" (many would argue Alawites aren't Muslims at all, and of course not Sunnis), won't even be tolerated. But for now he serves their purpose.

re: #42 Clio

There may -- just possibly may -- be the Law of Unintended Consequences at work here.

For too long, the Israeli public was just waiting for the day coming before long when Olmert and the slimy Kadimite government will fall of its own rotteness.

The outrage of Annapolis has awakened that too-passive public to the terrible peril of just sitting and waiting for that frabjous day.

Every day here there are more and more public activities, protests, and formation of new political pro-Israel groupings. True, they have not yet had an affect, but at least they are starting. All that is needed to get the national revival rolling is the right leader.

And a lot of those who are no longer expecting Olmert to rot away, and also no longer expecting Netanyahu to wake up out of his Rip Van Winkle mode.

The arousal has been late in coming, but do not despair that it may be too late.

I despair because the choices seem to devolve to two: National suicide or a fight to the finish.
The Olmert government looks more like the Warsaw Judenrat every day. The surrounding arab countries will never accept a Jewish State in their midst. G-d hears all prayer, but the answer is sometimes "NO", or even, "Hell NO,you've been bad". And I have a son on your front line.

Excellent (and scary) analysis by Dore Gold -- here.

Towards Annapolis: Is U.S. Policy Changing on Israel's Rights in a Peace Settlement?

Dore Gold

* After being sworn into office in 2001, the Bush administration informed the Israeli government that the Clinton proposals "were off the table." The Bush Letter of April 14, 2004, received by Israel as a quid pro quo for the Gaza Disengagement, introduced new elements into the Israeli-Palestinian peace process that completely superseded the Clinton proposals.

* Prime Minister Sharon explained the significance of the Bush Letter to the Knesset on April 22, 2004: "There is American recognition that in any permanent status arrangement, there will be no return to the ‘67 borders. This recognition is to be expressed in two ways: understanding that the facts that have been established in the large settlement blocs are such that they do not permit a withdrawal to the ‘67 borders and implementation of the term ‘defensible borders.'"

* There is a serious question about the exact standing of the Bush Letter on the eve of Annapolis. Secretary of State Rice stated on November 13, 2007: "I believe that most Israelis are ready to leave most of the - nearly all of the West Bank, just as they were ready to leave Gaza for the sake of peace." Yet all serious public opinion polls actually show strong Israeli support for retaining strategic areas of the West Bank, like the Jordan Valley.

re:

at least hamas isn't there ...

yet

Charles, you need to put up that "calls for Israel" link again. White House, State Dept/Condi & Israeli embassy phone lines need to be SHUT DOWN with people calling to protest this sham!

re:

Clio, all that's needed to bring down a government--any government--is a general strike. Just stop going to work for a week, and the government will be compelled to leave. Aren't the Israeli people capable of doing at least that?

Mr Palestine

George Bush is the only man who can bring an independent Palestine closer

[Link: www.economist.com...]

re:

Annapolis can be derailed and Israel can score a PR Coup of worldwide paradigm import through one simple mechanism.

re: #56 Tiburon

Annapolis can be derailed and Israel can score a PR Coup of worldwide paradigm import through one simple mechanism.

Well?! What is it, already?!

/sheesh!

And of course hamas vowed to disrupt the conference with increased rocket attacks against Israel

re:

I don't see it becoming a meme though, though it deserves to IMHO.

The Israeli Delegation should present the Claims of the 860,000 Arab Jewish Refugees: - $300 Billion in assets, and land titles from Morocco to Iran comprising an area 3.5X the size of Israel including the Golan and Yesha.

Recently discovered UN Documents confirm what's been long known in great detail: - the direct complicity and conspiracy of the Arab regimes to prevent resettlement and absorption of Arabs displaced during the War of Independance, so the UN delegation to the Conference will be similarly discomfited.

Outcome, should the Israeli delegation have the courage and wisdom for this: -
1) A PR Coup, forever changing the terms of debate, and the beginning of the end of the pali narrative
2) Derailment of Conference - the Arabs will immediately walk out.

As an aside - Benny Alon's Plan is a reasonable and viable stopgap solution - even Labour party members agree.

JIMENA: - Jews Indigent to the Middle East and North Africa

It is incomprehensible to me that the West never seems to learn from the lessons of the past. Specifically, that appeasement and "Lose-Win" compromises (i.e., we'll purposely give up something that you want just to show you our sincerity) with aggressor nations is folly. Diplomats apparently didn't have to take World History classes...or Basic Logic 101 either.

Go Rally AGAINST the Annapolis fire sale in YOUR city!

re:

Hi, I'm Olmert & I flip flop to get elected....

re:

re: #49 Opinionated

re:

re: #63 Orde

Bush's failure to keep his promise to move the embassy to Jerusalem was a red flag right off the bat, appointment of Karen Hughes another, and of course when he switched from a policy of benign neglect to the 2-state approach, the religion of peace comments, and so much more...it's so obvious.

How so on Karen Hughes?

I hate to say this, but as his time in office winds down, it looks to me like Bush's subservience to the Saudis is overriding much of his former support for Israel. Bush has angered his Saudi ... friends? masters? ... by supporting Shiites in Iraq. Now he's trying to make it up to them. Big US arms sales to Saudi and Egypt are unspeakable horrors that haven't got a fraction of the attention they deserve.

Yeah, I know, the putative reason for these sales is the threat of Iran. (to Egypt? bah!). The Saudis are almost as paranoid about Iran as they are about Israel, and of course for much better reason. The thing is, the Saudis have already come to despise Bush and especially Condi, by all appearances, so everything Bush is doing now is completely pointless. I think Bush has completely lost his political and moral bearings now and Condi ... never had any, as it now turns out.

Bush wants to make Arab-Israeli peace, to counter Iran. Bottom line. Thinks it will even pay off for Israel, protect Israel from Iran. That's the secret dialog. Betcha.

re:

What do the PA/PLO want? In their own words last week.

re:

"You were given the choice between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour, and you will have war."

-- Winston Churchill

Go HERE or here and write/call/fax Israeli Gov representatives! Let them know how you feel....don't just type it here @ LGF.

Wish to contact the POTUS?: He can be contacted at president@whitehouse.gov.

re:

It is such a bizarre irony- and tells you all you ever need to know about the Arab/Islamic war on Israel- but it passes for normal in the absurd world Israel inhabits.

Israel to go on high terror alert due to Annapolis peace summit

[Link: www.haaretz.com...]

re:

Sacrificing Israel on the altar of Iraq.

That's the immediate stroy. Getting the Sauds on board with reigning in the Iraqi Sunnis and slowing the flow of fighters into Iraq.

The larger story is the Arab world's demand to very publically have Israel capitulate, to save face in front of, or otherwise distract the arab street, while they begin to accommodate the new and permanent strategic American thrust into the heart of the Arab world.

In line with the USA's Israel policy of using Israeli blood to lubricate its sodomization of machinations in the Arab world.

It is the only lubricant the Arab world would agree to, and without it, it would be more painful for all (except Israel) concerned.

It ain't about legacy for Bush. For the inept and graceless 'Condi', who believes the palestinian's genocidal struggle against the Jews is akin to the Black Civil Rights Struggle, there may be a bit of legacy involved.

But just a bit.

She had an Aramco oil tanker named after her, you know.

Israeli and Palestinian reactions to upcoming peace conference in Annapolis...

Isareli

Palestinian

As for Olmert, what do you call the stud farm's employee who guides the stallion's appendage while the mare is being bred?

A lot of sexual imagery here, and for that I apologize.

What do you expect, though, when discussing a gang rape?

One of the main reasons I voted for Bush is that I believed that he would be a strong supporter of Israel.Little did I know that he would go over to the dark side and become a dhimmi piece of garbage doing the dirty work of his mussie masters.This is even a worse betrayal than Chamberlain preformed at Munich.

The reason that this a worse betrayal is that he has to be aware of the fact that the mussies have not lived up a single agreement of the Oslo accords and view any and all agreements or treaties with infidels as a hudna. In other words a tactical ploy to be discarded,ignored and or broken at their convenience.Anybody with half a brain must know that the ultimate goal of the mussies regarding Israel is the EXTERMINATION of Israel.Because of The blatantly one sided support of the Arab side the Bush administration has become partners in a planned genocide.

The best way for Israel to get through this is for them to dump that corrupt pig and worm Olmert get a leader with a pair that would tell Bush and Rice that Israel has no intention of committing national suicide so that they can suck-up to their mussie masters.

re:

These "summits" happen every once in a while for folks around the world to feel good about something. No one really expects the Arabs to agree to anything that requires them to start behaving like civilized people. Its just a show to temporarily placate those who bitch and complain and don't understand what's really going on ... yawn..

Michael totten wrote:

"The Syrian state-run propaganda organ Cham Press published a fake story about Lebanese Member of Parliament Walid Jumblatt’s supposed plan to meet Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in the United States last weekend to coordinate a regime-change in Syria."

Ha, only if it were true.

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re:

sorry - the A7 Jewish Refugee article

The Palis should bring a video of the wonderful productive Green-Houses of GAZA. That way it would showcase their administrative ability and financial support potential for their
new country or state.

/uh...never-mind.

Oy vey! What will Olmert select next to offer up in return for nothing, zip, nada, garnicht? By now Israel should be annexing the Golan Hrights instead of offering to give them away.

Annapolis follies Roundup:

Why aren't the Jewish hostages on the agenda?

If Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan's assassination of Bobby Kennedy(D) in 1968 wasn't one of the first, of many, domestic acts of Pali-Arab terrorism, then please explain to me why, when Cleo Allen Noel Jr., the U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, and his charge', George Curtis Moore, were abducted and executed by the PLO in March 1973, the Palestinian terrorists demanded that Sirhan Sirhan be freed?

Here are some Palestinian jokes I got by E-mail:

Good evening gentlemen, and get out, ladies.

On my flight to New York there must have been a Jew in the bathroom the entire time. There was a sign on the door that said "occupied."

How many Palestinians does it take to change a light bulb? None! They sit in the dark forever and blame the Jews for it!

What do you call a first-time offender in Saudi Arabia? Lefty!

Did you hear about the Muslim strip club? It features full facial nudity!

Why are Palestinian boys luckier than American boys? Because every Palestinian boy will get to join a rock group!

A small plane carrying Yassir Arafat and all his top lieutenants crashes and all aboard are killed. Who is saved? The Palestinian people!

What does the sign say above the nursery in a Palestinian maternity ward? "Live ammunition."

A Palestinian girl says to her mommy: "After Abdul blows up, can I have his room?"

Why are they funny? Exactly.

What has always frustred me is that the real refugees were not the Arabs that participated in a failed genocide of the Jew, but the 600,000 Jews that fled before that genocide in the ethnic cleansing of Islamic countries in the 1940s.

Another rhetorical question. Per 'one poll, published by the Ma'ariv newspaper, up to 50% of the Israeli public think Olmert has no mandate to negotiate with the Palestinians because of his unpopularity over last year's war in Lebanon and the alleged corruption scandals that surround him' and per Hamas President Mahmoud Abbas does not have a mandate to negotiate.

So... what is the point?

#91 DANEgerus - This just out, from HIR: -
Understanding Annapolis - What you don't know could cost you (What is the Israeli Government doing)

Understanding Annapolis - The Arab League, then and forever.

There's a comprehensive IMRA poll on the right -

Rum Paul!

Rally Against America Sacrificing Israel to Global Jihadi Juggernaut

Grassroots Rally For Israel in Manhattan

Your brothers and sisters in Israel will be in mortal danger if the proposed giveaways are agreed upon at the Annapolis Summit.

We must strongly object to any division of Jerusalem by the Government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert & Co.

We must protest the planned expulsion of our 250,000 brethren living in Judea and Samaria – The Biblical Israel, and of inviting thousands of terrorists to live within 10 miles of Israel’s population centers.

And, we must protest the imminent release of another 441 terrorists from Israeli prisons.

Now you have the opportunity to Demonstrate Your Opposition to the Annapolis Summit !

We will meet MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26 AT 12 NOON, OPPOSITE THE ISRAELI CONSULATE IN NEW YORK CITY (SECOND AVENUE BETWEEN 42 & 43 STREET)

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE SEE: [Link: blessingbank.blogspot.com...]

Condi for POTUS!

Long live Israel's hero Sharon and his man-picked heir Olmert! Sharon's great policy finally is bringing Israel a lasting peace.

/carc

From the vaults:

The Mosque Upon the Mount

Mohammed rode the night horse, or so the Muslims say
Mohammed rode the night horse to a mosque so far away
And his followers the Muslims, coming after his death, claim
That the mosque upon the Mount is the mosque the Koran names.

Never mind the mosque upon the Mount was never even there
At the time Mohammed--so they claim--took his ride in the air.
Never mind the mosque upon the Mount was built in later days--
Mere factual reality did ne'er a Muslim faze.

Broadcast on Al-jazeera, in the seething Arab street,
Are echoed calls to Muslims that they must not retreat
That they must not cede unto the Jews they hold of no account
Possession of the Mountain and the mosque upon the Mount.

The Muslims lost the mosque and lost the Mount on which it stands
A foolish choice was made then that it stay within their hands
And feverishly ever they work so as to erase
The record of the Temple there--which must take pride of place.

The world stands by complacent at the Mount destruction news--
When cared the nations for the holy places of the Jews?
But bad though the nations' silence be, the silence that is worse
Is that of Jews who stand by as the destruction occurs.

Why should a people conquered justly through the force of arms
Be permitted to retain a symbol that does lasting harm?
Why should the conquered be allowed to rule the Temple Mount
And by this hold their conquerors to be of no account?

The mosque upon the Mount is beautiful, or so they say
But like the earlier Temple, it also may pass away--
The mosque was built to show who'd conquered many years ago;
The reason it was raised is also why it now must go.

O Jews, who claim Jerusalem is still your capital
How can you claim this when the Mountain still remains in thrall?
It is in thrall by your consent. Jerusalem will be
Your capital united when the Mount has been set free.

The President, Secretary Rice, as well as Israeli PM Olmert and PA chief Abbas are all expected to participate at some point in this conference, and Syria sends a Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister.

Not even their Chief Deputy.

Jeez. Annapolis is likely to be a pointless excercise.

And you can be 100% sure that the State Department, through Condoleeza Rice, can and will do everything possible to make sure that Israel will give up the farm. Then again, with this government, it won't take much pushing on the part of the U.S. to get Olmert et als. to surrender.

BHG

An article by Jeff Jacoby makes an excellent point: The Key to Arab-Israeli Peace is to Compel the Arab World to Abandon Its Dream of Liquidating Israel
[Link: www.aish.com...]

Israel should make this its minimal demand: accepting Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. If the other side will not do this, then they are not offering anything that will contribute to peace, and Israel should refuse to make a single concession. That minimal demand should be non-negotiable. No recognition of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state? Then no Israeli concessions. Why should Israel play the fool?

re #99

The key to Arab-Israeli peace is to compel the Arab world to abandon its dream of liquidating Israel.

In advance of the upcoming diplomatic conference in Annapolis, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced the other day that he expects the Palestinian Authority to finally acknowledge Israel's existence as a Jewish state. A newly arrived visitor from Mars might wonder why this should even be an issue -- after all, Israel *is* a Jewish state. If the more than 55 countries that make up the Organization of the Islamic Conference are entitled to recognition as Muslim states, and if the 22 members of the Arab League are universally accepted as Arab states, why should anyone balk at acknowledging Israel as the world's lone Jewish state?

Yet Olmert's demand was rebuffed. Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian Authority negotiator, said on Monday that Palestinians would refuse to recognize Israel's Jewish identity on the grounds that "it is not acceptable for a country to link its national character to a specific religion." According to the Jerusalem Post, Erekat told Radio Palestine: "There is no country in the world where religious and national identities are intertwined."

In fact, there are many countries in which national identity and religion are linked. Argentinian law mandates government support for the Roman Catholic faith. Queen Elizabeth II is the supreme governor of the Church of England. In the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, the constitution proclaims Buddhism the nation's "spiritual heritage." The Danish and Norwegian royal families must be members, respectively, of the Church of Denmark and the Church of Norway. "The prevailing religion in Greece," declares Section II of the Greek Constitution, "is that of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Christ."

In no region of the world do countries so routinely link their national character to a specific religion as in the Muslim Middle East. The flag of Saudi Arabia features the shahada -- the Islamic declaration of faith -- in white Arabic script on a green background; on the Iranian flag, the Islamic phrase "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great") appears 22 times. And then there is Erekat's own Palestinian Authority, whose Basic Law provides in Article 4 that "Islam is the official religion in Palestine" and that "the principles of Islamic sharia shall be the main source of legislation."

Clearly, then, Erekat and the Palestinian Authority do not refuse to accept Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state out of some principled opposition to linking national and religious identity. Perhaps, our visiting Martian might surmise, their objection is simply tactical: Are the Palestinians withholding formal recognition from Israel in order to extract some corresponding recognition for themselves?

But that explanation also doesn't hold water. Olmert has repeatedly endorsed the creation of a sovereign state of Palestine. "We support the establishment of a modern, democratic Palestinian state," he says. "The existence of two nations, one Jewish and one Palestinian, is the full solution to the national aspirations and problems of each of the peoples." Last week he went so far as to suggest that a plan for Palestinian peace and statehood might be achieved "even before the end of President Bush's term in office."