Dichter's angry words and other reflections

Dichter: Annapolis Is Not a Scientific Experiment -Herb Keinon

"The Annapolis peace parley is not a scientific experiment and the Israeli people are not guinea pigs," Public Security Minister Avi Dichter [said].

He added that the Palestinians must establish law enforcement bodies and "real prisons," before negotiations can begin. Without such bodies, Dichter said, any declarations by the Palestinians have no merit.
(Jerusalem Post)

Defining Down the Roadmap -Rick Richman

PA officials said they plan to deploy security forces in Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, in an effort to end the anarchy there. U.S. security coordinator Gen. Keith Dayton was quoted as saying, "This is where the Palestinian state will get its first real test."

[But a]ctually, this will be the fourth "real test" for the PA security forces. They have already had at least three such tests in the past two years, and flunked them all.
[A]fter Israel withdrew from Gaza, the PA security forces stood by as the former Israeli synagogues, which could have been used as schools, were burned and as Israeli greenhouses, which could have provided jobs, were looted. Security at the Gaza-Egyptian border collapsed within three days.

Over the succeeding two years, the PA forces proved unable to prevent massive smuggling of weapons and terrorists across the border from Egypt, or stop the daily firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza, or prevent tunneling under the border and the kidnapping and killing of Israeli soldiers. Finally, PA forces were routed from Gaza by Hamas forces they outnumbered.

Gen. Dayton's "test" for the PA reflects the continuing process of defining down the conditions for a Palestinian state...
(New York Sun)


A Mis-step on the Path to Middle East Peace -Jon Alterman

Rice's conference does nothing to move the debate forward. Instead, it seeks to bring together people already on record as favoring a negotiated solution to rehash their stated positions. Rather than move the parties toward peace, it will demonstrate how difficult it is even for those leaning toward peace to make such a peace.

In so doing, it will strengthen the rejectionists.
(Financial Times-UK)