Well, that’s depressing.

I used a single credit card to pay for all my gas expenses from June 30 to July 28. The total, counting tolls: $376.64.

Herschel is one of my longtime regulars. Chico was his.

Chico

Jan. 8, 1988-July 30, 2008

Olmert is resigning.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held a special press conference on Wednesday at 8 p.m. where he announced he will not run in the Kadima primary scheduled to take place in September.

Olmert said he would resign from office upon selection of a successor, and would allow his successor to attempt to form a coalition.

Ever the gentleman, he’s leaving office the same way he stayed: Without taking personal responsibility for any of his actions.

The premier lashed out at his political adversaries without naming any of them - either from Kadima or other parties - personally.

Olmert opened his speech by expressing his pride to be a citizen of Israel: “As a citizen in a democracy I have always believed that when a person is elected prime minister in Israel, even those who opposed him in the ballot want him to succeed.

“But instead I found myself subjected to constant investigations and criticism. Almost from day one, I had to repel personal attacks and postpone decisions that are pertinent to the security of the State.”

And then he proceeded to show how blind he truly is:

Olmert then proceeded to recount the successes of his premiership: “And yet, Israel’s position has improved.

“The North enjoys tranquility; Israel’s deterrence has immeasurably improved. I am proud of these achievements,” he said.

On his watch, Hamas took over Gaza, Samir Kuntar was freed in a deal for two soldiers’ bodies, the Lebanon War debacle occurred, and Israel was ready to give up the Golan Heights. Yeah, that’s improved, all right.

No, wait. Israel’s deterrence will be immeasurably improved. Olmert is leaving office. That improves Israel’s standing immediately.

Now, the race is on for his replacement in Kadima. It isn’t Livni’s to lose. Mofaz appears to be coming on strong. And there is still Benjamin Netanyahu in the wings. But I leave the political posts to Snoopy. He’s the Israeli among the three of us co-bloggers.

via memeorandum

I wanted to believe the worst of the Obama campaign. I wanted to believe that they had released the note that the candidate had place in the Kotel (Western Wall) to two newspapers.

There was some indication that the paper making the claim, Ma’ariv was being honest.

Not anymore.

The New Republic’s blog that had previously accepted Ma’ariv’s story, has dug a little deeper and found:

I just got off the phone with a Ma’ariv spokesman who says that the accusation is “completely false,” and that he has no idea who these papers were quoting from Ma’ariv. “No official spokesman for Ma’ariv told this to any of the papers.” I’ve got some calls in to these papers to find out where they got the quote. (I’ll update here when I hear back.) He told me definitively that “the Obama campaign did not give us a copy of the letter or approve it for printing.”

Hot Air writes:

Something’s fishy with Ma’ariv, though. TNR notes that unnamed “spokesmen” pushing the “Obama approved it” line were quoted by three different Israeli papers last night. And today?

Last October Ehud Asheri wrote in Haaretz:

Ofer Nimrodi, owner of the mass-circulation daily newspaper Ma’ariv, has been experiencing something unfamiliar these days: rare esteem and praise is greeting the appointment of the editors-in-chief Doron Galezer and Ruthie Yuval, the likes of which the battered publisher has never enjoyed.

Fifteen years after he bought the newspaper, there appears at long last the possibility that he will be extricated from his outsider position in print journalism and will earn equal status in the exclusive club of the veteran publishers who, unlike him, were born into the industry.

The change in the way the wind is blowing can be attributed first of all to what Galezer and Yuval represent: traditional, independent, investigative journalism that is not linked by umbilical cord to wealth, does not habitually hobnob socially with politicians in the places they frequent, and is not tainted by obsequious populism.

Both of them grew up in the solid school of the Haaretz group, and both have proven that it is possible to maintain the values of classical journalism even in the commercial environment of the mass circulation daily Yedioth Ahronoth, and television’s Channel 2.

Those “values of classical journalism” were on full display during the recent controversy over Sen. Obama’s note in the wall.

I’m sorry I fell for it.

See also Rubicon3.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

The other day I commented on a story from the Washington Post that Arab states were failing to fulfill their commitments to fund the Palestinian Authority.

Since then a few other bloggers have written about the story as well as a related story in the Jerusalem Post.

Boker Tov Boulder points out that by focusing on what wasn’t paid to the PA, the story misses the bigger picture: what’s been paid to the PA and gone for naught. In fact 3 weeks ago, we learned that $1 billion in international aid had been disbursed to the PA in 6 months. (This is something that Boker Tov Boulder followed up on.)

The international community has paid out nearly a billion dollars in direct aid to the Palestinians in six months, officials of the International Donors’ Conference for the Palestinian State said here late Monday, while hitting out at Israeli restrictions on movement by Palestinians.

Commenting on the Jerusalem Post story Israel Matzav offers some advice to the PA:

I know one place they could cut back - they could stop paying ’salaries’ for all their ‘employees’ in Gaza who haven’t come to work in over a year. At least 40% of the ‘Palestinian Authority’s ‘budget’ is spent in Gaza, which they do not even control.

That’s right, a significant amount of foreign aid sent to bolster the “moderate” Fatah government gets funneled to the “militant” Hamas government. The claims that we must fund the PA in order to bolster the moderates is undermined by the very moderates we’re supposedly helping.

Elder of Ziyon boils it down to:

The rich Arab oil barons do not consider the PA to be a good investment.

(There’s a lot more to his argument, but that’s the bottom line. So read the whole thing.)

If there was a Zionist ethos, it could be summed up as “making the desert bloom.” While the reality was not necessarily so romantic, it underscores a devotion to being independent. Palestinian nationalism, if it has an ethos it’s “let’s be wards of the international community.” Palestinian statehood has become everyone’s responsibility but the Palestinians.

The nations of the world must give them money. Israel must give them land and free terrorists.

Palestinians nationalism could be described as a passive-aggressive national movement. Why is there an International Donor’s conference to mark the progress towards creating a Palestinian state? Why isn’t Abbas or Fayyad presenting a state of the state message to their many donors explaining how they’ve promoted an industrial infrastructure, instituted government accountability, implemented a legal system that observes high standards of human rights or an educational system that promotes liberal thought? The Palestinians have no responsibilities and nothing is demanded of them.

Everyone everywhere (including numerous Israeli politicians) claim that Israel’s very legitimacy rests on the creation of a Palestinian state. But how can that be when the Palestinians don’t take the necessary steps to create such a state? Why should Israel’s legitimacy be dependent on the behavior of the Palestinians?

And when President Bush says that a stable Middle East depends on having a Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, why does it matter more to him than to the Arab states who won’t put their money where their mouth is? (Remember that one of the complaints that the Arab world has against the United States - repeated ad nauseum - is that it doesn’t do enough for the Palestinians. But how can the United States do enough, if the Palestinians don’t take the basic steps to create a state themselves? And why doesn’t the United States turn to the Arabs and say, why should we support Palestinians nationalism if you won’t?)

The current trends in diplomacy only encourage Palestinian dependency. At what point will this be recognized and the onus of independence be placed on the ones who claim they want it?

UPDATE: Writing about a trend of Arab countries to invest directly in the Palestinian people and not the government, Daled Amos observed (similar to Elder of Ziyon):

I blogged earlier this week about how contrary to the West that insisted on pouring more millions into the Palestinian Authority to no effect, the Arab countries knew better and have resisted giving money to the PA that they have previously promised. Now it seems that the Arab countries are even smarter than that–they have approached the situation as capitalists, investing in the people instead of squandering it on the leaders.

And from the Arab side of things, Zohir Andreus writes in Killing the Dream:

It is difficult for me to be a Palestinian-Arab these days, because I’m simply ashamed. The conduct of my people in the “liberated” Gaza Strip and in the occupied West Bank does not leave room for any doubt: The dream of establishing a democratic and secular Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel is dissipating. My people is the only one in the world that has no state and, thank God, two governments.

So perhaps it is the governments of the Palestinians who are passive aggressive in seeking nationhood.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

The AP falsely reported that Israel is building a new settlement on the West Bank and linked this to a wrong-headed spin on an important national leader visiting Israel.

No, not Obama! He’s still just a candidate. I’m referring to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Curiously, Brown’s visit was highlighted for its criticism of Israel by the AP though his trip was seen in Israel as incredibly supportive.

While I realize that AP is a fairly loose association and is rather a gathering of all kinds, the frequency of anti-Israeli reports it produces is way above normal. And it’s not only loose, but allows its contributors to play loose with facts to score a cheap propaganda point.

More in this article by professor Barry Rubin of GLORIA Center.

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.