> well if shas don't like her, that seems like a good thing.
>
> On Fri, Sep 19, 2008 at 9:51 PM, Bill O'Connor <billyoc at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Shane Mage <shmage at pipeline.com> writes:
>>
>> >> Well, she's not from the army, so that'd be good.
>> >> _
>> > She spent six years in Mossad. Is that good?
>>
>> Well, not as good as, say, being a doctor, but probably better than an
>> army chief.
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Until the Israelis, whether led by Livni or Netanyahu, are certain a
potential Hamas-led Palestinian state does not represent a threat to them on
their western and southern borders, they are unlikely to strike any deal
with Fatah, which is politically weak. If the Israelis had any serious
intentions about a peaceful settlement which amounted to more than a de
facto Palestinian surrender, they would have released Marwan Barghouti for
the same reason Botha's government released Mandela in 1990. There might be
some movement on the Palestine issue in the context of an omnibus Middle
East settlement involving some form of US rapprochment with Iran, but I'm
not holding my breath.