Neither the Olmert government nor the Bush Administration has the stomach to declare an end to the “peace process,” so they are literally begging HAMAS to lend a hand and allow the U.S. and Israel to save face.

The alternative would have been for the U.S. to state that approval of a HAMAS-led government by Abbas would contravene the Oslo accords and President Bush’s speech of June 2002, and result in a suspension of the Roadmap. Abbas has the constitutional authority to reject a HAMAS government and call new elections. But it appears that the U.S. lacks the strength to take this position.

With this weakness now exposed, HAMAS can now proceed from a position of strength.

…and many in Israel are more dubious about Olmert staying the course than we are about W and Condi.

Olmert has proven himself to be a weasely demagogue, and he and his family are heavily involved in the radical Israeli left (his wife co-founded the Women in Black organization).

Last week – with the whole world looking at him for a clue as to how firm Israel would be about Hamastan – he showed an ass-from-elbow aptitude for identifying Israel’s real enemies, releasing millions of dollars to the Palis while shopping around for a bloody anti-settler photo-op to help him fill the “tough guy” void left by Sharon.

Condi’s blood has more testosterone than this man’s.

The one point of hope is that, with Sharon off the public stage, Israelis are waking up to just how far we’ve slid towards becoming a banana republic. And if those missiles keep falling on Ashkelon, no amount of demonizing the settlers will help Kadimah or the left.

Lovely.