It was born in sin, it couldn't be viable, it was stillborn and now it's decomposing. There has never been a distinct nation of the Western Palestine Arabs, who are an artificial sub-set of the Greater Palestine Arabs. The only viable nation state of all Greater Palestine Arabs is the Kingdom of Jordan. Israel and Jordan should agree on the border between them in Judea and Samaria and maybe cede Gaza to Egypt.

Thanks Nachum for the excellent analysis!

How's that for a novel idea? Instead of repeating standard cliches that barley correspond to any current reality, they could give an honest assessment of the situation. What's wrong with stating the obvious? Could either Bush or Olmert be less popular than they already are? Sure, they're afraid of the leftist uproar - truth being somewhat inconvenient to wishful thinkers convinced of their rightousness or should I say self-rightousness. But reality will eventually come knocking at the door - actually, it punches you in the face if you're not prepared. In any event, reality must be faced sooner or later. The two-state solution is dead. Fatah & the PA are an abysmal failure. Mr Abbas is a waste of time. Oslo was a mistake. Other options must be considered.

If Israel started and never waivered from the truth of the "palis", in this case, fatah...and continuously showed the evidence of lies and hatred emanating from their corrupt mouths, .. the world would eventually toe the line,,,okay, most of the countries. That fatah is just as murderous and duplicitous as hamas. Show all the Memri footage that proves fatah raises suicide bombers in kindergarten with the lovable murderous Farfur the shahid teaching mouse.. fatah runs the education and tv depts. That Abbas has told his people, when fighting with hamas, to stopk killing each other and turn their weapons against the Zionists. Their charter of the death of Israelis and the theft of their land created by the corrupt gay aafat is unchanged. Israel start telling the truth. Stop your murderous/suicidal politicians. Listen to MK Benny Elon, he has the only safe, sane and fair solution. Give them $$$ and they will RUN away!! G-d bless Israel with courageous and honest leaders.

B.S. does not stand for bachelor of science. A polite definition, although not capturing the entire meaning, would be nonsensical lies to divert public attention. Does anybody (among the certifiably sane population) who has followed the Middle East (especially since the advent of the Oslo "peace" process) really believe that Fatah is committed to peace with Israel? Remember, this is the same Fatah that continues to indoctrinate the population with the crudest and most vile antisemitism. Textbooks in areas controlled by the PA(Fatah) are so antisemitic that even Hitler would approve of them. Fatah leaders continue to honor the murderous suicide bombers as martyrs as if encouraging people to kill themselves and to murder innocent children is a desirable cultural trait. Fatah signed the Oslo agreements and agreed to stop terrorism. Tell that to the relatives of the 1000 murdered Israelis who were slaughtered after the Clinton/Barak offer to Arafat. Other than quoting inane slogans (you make peace with your enemies) I challenge anyone to give factual and logical reasons why Israel should trust Fatah to keep an agreement that would end the violence.

Personally I am skeptical of the new government.Without Hamas's coopertion nothing is going to move.As for fatah,the old corruption is still there.Monies that went to PLO were used to line their pockets,build villas,open swiss bank accounts,a journalist has reported the bathroom fixtures of gold and so on. Same 'ol,same 'ol.That's why Hamas were voted in.The Palestinians won't accept a truncated state.

the so-called two state solution is like placing a bandaid on a hole created by a 500mm shell.

The saddest news of the day is the passing of Ze'ev Schiff, Ha'aretz's wonderful defense expert. But we personally will miss his lovely voice and distinctive pronounciation, explaning tv news programmes. He was unique, is irreplaceable and will be sadly missed. May his dear soul rest in everlasting peace and his memory be a blessing, and a source of comfort for his grieving family.

Dear Nachum Barnea shelanu, The best hope for Israel's security now is accepting the reality that Fatah has really been r e j e c t e d by the majority of Palestinians. So, Israel needs to approach coexistence on two separate tracts, one with the Gaza "tribe" of Hamas and one with the West Bank "tribe" of Hamas, both differing greatly in their pragmatism in improving life for their peoples. Fatah is d e a d so we should be dealing with two Hamas groups and not go against the grain as America did in its flawed policy in Viet Nam. Trying to impose our will on these Arab groups will surely backfire. Let's learn from history! Respectfully, Bill

To use an analogy I understand, maybe Bush is a bit too busy to water the local vegetable garden to worry too much about somebody else's fruit trees right now. After all, those veggies only have one growing season, whereas those trees have been there for years, and though bearing more fruit one year than another, they will be there for a few more years. I'm sure, the "water" would be forthcoming, before those trees died.