Diplomat Dunces

The Russians think that they can build on the progress of Annapolis and somehow get Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria. Fat chance of that happening. There wasn't any progress as a result of Annapolis, unless you want to count Hamas deciding that Gaza should have an open border with Egypt and invaded Egypt en masse.

Why would Israel engage in diplomacy with Syria, which harbors terror masters from Hamas and Hizbullah, and who supplies both groups with equipment, personnel, and assistance, not to mention is a destabilizing presence in Lebanon and thwarts Lebanese sovereignty at every turn.

This is nothing more than a misdirection play in order to give Hamas more time to regroup and rearm itself in Gaza. It's nice to see that some Israelis are similarly distrustful of anything coming out of Syria, but I also expect Olmert to be pushing backchannel negotiations with Assad and his cronies as well.

Once again, we're witnessing the psuedoreality in which the diplomats reside. The reality is quite different. Yet more kassams slammed into Israel today.

At the same time, a Yemeni effort to get Hamas and Fatah talking again has failed. Go figure. The reason for its failure is simple; Hamas would have had to give up control of Gaza. There's absolutely no reason for it to do so - it crushed Fatah there, and would likely destroy Fatah entirely but for the Israeli security presence in the West Bank.