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Netanyahu: No PA partner for peace, PM's partner is virtual
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
tags: Ehud Olmert 

Opposition chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel has no partner for a real peace with the Palestinians, dismissing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's diplomatic efforts as "making peace with a virtual partner, in a virtual reality."

"We have a partner for words, but not for deeds, certainly not for fighting terrorism, and, to my regret, no partner for a real peace," the Likud leader told Israel Radio.

According to Netanyahu, there is no basis for Olmert's statements that Israel has a peacemaking partner in Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and that Abbas is committed to curbing terrorists in his midst.
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"Not only are they not fighting Hamas, Abu Mazen [Abbas] is incapable even of taking control of Fatah, his own people, who tried to assassinate the prime minister of Israel a few months ago."

He warned against ceding additional territory to Palestinian control, saying the Palestinians are incapable of containing expansion of Hamas control. "Hamas, under the sponsorship of Iran, will enter any area that we evacuate," Netanyahu said. "Olmert is making peace with a virtual partner, in a virtual reality."

Coalition MK blasts Annapolis
Coalition MK Yisrael Hasson, a former deputy chief of the Shin Bet security service, has lashed out at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's talks with the Palestinians, terming the upcoming Annapolis conference "a fantasy, not a vision."

Hasson, of the rightist Yisrael Beiteinu faction, punned that the conference should be called Anopheles, the mosquito that carries malaria, because it "bears all the signs of malaria: delusions, tremors and a high fever."

Speaking off the record, lawmakers of Olmert's Kadima party have complained that Olmert was dragging the party too far to the left.

Yisrael Beiteinu's chairman, Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, warned Monday that the party will stick to its red lines, which bar any discussion of the "core issues" - borders, Jerusalem and the refugees - at the conference. However, the party has not yet threatened to quit the coalition, and senior Kadima officials said that this is because Olmert has reassured Lieberman on this point.

Shas, for its part, is taking comfort from Olmert's statement that Annapolis is merely the beginning of the process, not its end. Party Chairman and Industry Minister Eli Yishai said that Shas does not view the Palestinian Authority as a peace partner until its ability to control the territory and fulfill its obligations has been proven, and such proof should precede any progress in the talks.

Likud, in contrast, is urging Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu to quit the coalition immediately. Speaking at Monday's Likud faction meeting, party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu said that Olmert and his senior coalition partner, Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak, have both already proven themselves incapable of reading reality, and they now seem poised to repeat their misguided concessions of the past.

MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) urged Kadima MKs, many of whom are former Likudniks, to challenge Olmert as well.

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      1.   Pondslime slithers from Olmert 04:41  |  Mark Lincoln 06/11/07
      2.   MK Yisrael Hasson.... 04:46  |  gabriela 06/11/07
      3.   Why is peace so frightening? 05:05  |  Dan Chazan 06/11/07
      4.   the government will fall right after the summit 05:22  |  INSIDER 06/11/07
      5.   Anti-peace Israelis 06:38  |  Pablo B 06/11/07
      6.   peace in our time 06:42  |  Randall Watson 06/11/07
      7.   Peace is An Illusion, And a Deluson 07:17  |  Dave Levy 06/11/07
      8.   fantasy is right 07:29  |  dave s. 06/11/07
      9.   MEANWHILE,LIBERMAN,SHAS SUPPORT SUICIDAL GOVT.THEIR END IS NEAR)) 07:35  |  VOICE of MOSHIACH))) 06/11/07
      10.   #3 - simple logic should be applied .. 07:47  |  redmike 06/11/07
      11.   One politician is as bad as another 07:50  |  Natallie Durson 06/11/07
      12.   The limitations of Hasson 08:04  |  Esther 06/11/07
      13.   It`ll never work. Why? 08:05  |  Nechama 06/11/07
      14.   Be forewarned.... 08:36  |  Esther 06/11/07
      15.   Why? 09:12  |  sam 06/11/07
      16.   #5 Pablo: Your Assertion Is Incorrect 09:21  |  lagunageno 06/11/07
      17.   oh please 09:23  |  r.m. 06/11/07
      18.   What is Mr Netanyahu`s opinion... 09:30  |  Maureen Ann 06/11/07
      19.   Words vs deeds? Where are Netanyahu`s deeds fore peace? 09:47  |  Ivar 06/11/07
      20.   r.m. #17 Why don`t You Tell Hamas To Make Peace? 09:50  |  lagunageno 06/11/07
      21.   NETANYAHU IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT : ELECTIONS NOW 10:01  |  S.Aveus 06/11/07
      22.   Bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla, bla............ 10:09  |  Swiss (Dino) 06/11/07
      23.   Gaza should never be united with the W.Bank.pt-1 10:11  |  Akram Zekaria 06/11/07
      24.   ELECTIONS NOW! OLMERT IS A 2 BIT CROOK 10:14  |  DAN 06/11/07
      25.   #19ivar and a world of talk in which fact is removed 10:22  |  victor hardman 06/11/07
      26.   Peace and War 10:27  |  Alan 06/11/07
      27.   # 3 10:39  |  JJ 06/11/07
      28.   Gaza should never be united with the W.Bank pt-2 10:41  |  Akram Zekaria 06/11/07
      29.   Bibi the peace maker 10:41  |  The Arab Hammer 06/11/07
      30.   Esther and her S.A Delusions 11:28  |  Gabe1 06/11/07
      31.   Do the world needs Palestine ? pt-1 11:35  |  Akram Zekaria 06/11/07
      32.   Akram Zekaria #23 11:35  |  Hubal 06/11/07
      33.   As for Netanyahu.... 11:42  |  Esther 06/11/07
      34.   Gabe 1 dear... 11:48  |  r.m. 06/11/07
      35.   swiss dino i am not a supporter of bibi 11:51  |  toblerone 06/11/07
      36.   Wow Gabe #30 ! 11:53  |  Esther 06/11/07
      37.   natallie durson "one politician is as bad as another" 11:55  |  harzion 06/11/07
      38.   Akram Zekaria #23 11:59  |  Hubal 06/11/07
      39.   To "Arab Hammer": Bibi Last PM to Reach Signed Agreements w/ Pals 12:00  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 06/11/07
      40.   Gaza was the Litmus 12:00  |  Proud Israeli 06/11/07
      41.   Dan Chazan et al. 12:03  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 06/11/07
      42.   Barak had to join in somehow... 12:04  |  Esther 06/11/07
      43.   NMETANYAHU.Must be watching Fatah TV with ALL Israel as Palestine 12:06  |  PETER S.M. 06/11/07
      44.   Gabe1 surely could learn alot from Esther 12:06  |  Sam (UK) 06/11/07
      45.   Netanyahu the cheat 12:13  |  Sam (UK) 06/11/07
      46.   Gabe is a racist 12:15  |  The Arab Hammer 06/11/07
      47.   to Dan #3 12:16  |  Kobi 06/11/07
      48.   I WONDER WHY HE HATES ARAB THAT MUCH 12:25  |  indrajaya 06/11/07
      49.   Bibi forced to watch Olmert ruining Israel 12:28  |  Jonathan S 06/11/07
      50.   Do the world needs Palestine ? pt-2 12:30  |  Akram Zekaria 06/11/07
      51.   Netanyahu beating around the bush/Bush 12:30  |  Yaakov Sullivan 06/11/07
      52.   governments can come&go but israel`s mantra has remained the same 12:39  |  lakshmi 06/11/07
      53.   Samir #32 12:40  |  GABE1 06/11/07
      54.   Netanyahu`s peace of the grave policy: continue land grab 12:43  |  Ivar 06/11/07
      55.   The Arab hammer #34 on racism 12:46  |  GABE1 06/11/07
      56.   Gabe1 Projects his own pathologies 12:49  |  Hubal 06/11/07
      57.   netanyahu 13:22  |  margaretbailey 06/11/07
      58.   Bibi should stop speaking about peace 13:35  |  mehmet 06/11/07
      59.   No PA partner for peace 14:09  |  Brod 06/11/07
      60.   #54ivar and more total crap from al jazeera 14:15  |  victor hardman 06/11/07
      61.   Jonathan S. "Temple" Mount was NEVER a Jewish holy site 14:27  |  Ivar 06/11/07
      62.   Margaret B. 57, Christian Zionism has been abuntantly refuted 14:38  |  Ivar 06/11/07
      63.   With folk like Netenyahu who needs a god of war? 14:50  |  Don Camillo 06/11/07
      64.   PETER SM - glad I caught up with you.... 14:53  |  Don Camillo 06/11/07
      65.   No PA partner for peace 14:57  |  Joe Momma 06/11/07
      66.   Let me put it another way, Wake up and smell the coffee 15:01  |  Jack 06/11/07
      67.   Hubal #56 15:07  |  GABE1 06/11/07
      68.   #63 vote for stupidity and don camillo 15:36  |  victor hardman 06/11/07
      69.   for those who scream against natanyahu 16:00  |  harzion 06/11/07
      70.   @58, mehmet, all amer presidents would like to see 16:29  |  vladimir 06/11/07
      71.   Bibi and Khalid 16:44  |  Mark of Lewiston 06/11/07
      72.   Bibi`s position is weak 17:07  |  David Hoffman 06/11/07
      73.   NATALIE DURSON 17:18  |  notblackorwhite 06/11/07
      74.   38# Hubal. A failed plan for 60 years,can`t work. 17:36  |  Akram Zekaria 06/11/07
      75.   Ivar 17:59  |  Jasmine Murphy 06/11/07
      76.   Netanyahu has a point, but not the one he means 17:59  |  Tosefta 06/11/07
      77.   Akram Zekaria #74 18:03  |  Hubal 06/11/07
      78.   no partner for peace, as usual 18:05  |  Space 06/11/07
      79.   dc and his stories and attitudes 18:08  |  Jasmine Murphy 06/11/07
      80.   Israelis continue to embarrass themselves 18:17  |  Tim