ISRAEL TO BUY MEDICAL SUPPLIES FOR PALESTINIANS

Israel Will Buy Supplies for Gaza Hospitals - Steven Erlanger and Greg Myre
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said Thursday that Israel would buy drugs and medical equipment urgently needed by Palestinian hospitals in Gaza out of funds Israel is withholding. In an interview in Jerusalem, Olmert vehemently denied that there was any Palestinian "humanitarian crisis," calling it "for the time being total propaganda." "We will pay if necessary out of our own pockets," he said, and get what is needed directly to the hospitals "as soon as possible," circumventing the Hamas government. "We wouldn't allow one baby to suffer one night."

The Palestinians, Olmert insisted in his excellent English, "are the victims of their own extremist, fundamentalist, religious, inflexible, and unyielding leadership, and we will do everything in our power to help these innocent people."

Washington and the EU want Olmert to try to negotiate first with Abbas, but Olmert does not want to get trapped into talks whose failure could start another round of violence. Olmert called the Palestinians natural partners of Israelis but the historical victims of "irresponsible, reckless, corrupt leadership, and a total lack of democratic traditions that always drew them away from the mainstream and into the sidelines, and into tragedies and pain." (New York Times)

See also Israel to Free Funds for Palestinian Health Workers
Israel is prepared to release Palestinian tax revenues into a proposed aid mechanism being set up by Middle East mediators to avert the collapse of the Palestinian health sector and to pay some salaries, an Israeli official said Thursday. The official said the money transferred by Israel would be given to specific Palestinian hospitals and clinics, and could then be used to pay salaries to doctors, nurses, and other health workers. An independent auditor would ensure that the money is not diverted to the Hamas-led government or Hamas officials. (Reuters)

AND WHAT DO THE PALESTINIAN'S ARAB BROTHERS HAVE TO OFFER? NOT MUCH.

An Arab Scandal
The total funds the Arab League has been able to collect for the Palestinian people do not surpass the paltry sum of $70 million, $50 million of which was from Qatar alone. Is this all that the entire Arab world can offer the Palestinians at this moment of crisis? An additional scandal is that the Arab League is incapable of delivering this meager sum to the Palestinians. At the Arab Summit financial allotments that each Arab state was supposed to pay to the Palestinian people were determined. These allotments were intended to be obligatory. (Al-Ahram-Egypt)

SEE ALSO: U.S. Poll: 80% Say No Funding for PA Now
A poll of 500 "opinion elites" commissioned by The Israel Project shows that U.S. support for Israel remains strong and that there is significant concern among Americans regarding Hamas. 77% said they have a cold or unfavorable view of Hamas and only 4% had a warm or positive feeling. 80% agree that the U.S. should not fund the Palestinian Authority until its Hamas-led government renounces violence, recognizes Israel, and ends terrorism. 94% agree that Palestinian leaders must disarm terrorists. 93% agree that Palestinian leaders must end the culture of hate that encourages children to become suicide bombers. 58% said they backed Israel while 10% said they supported the Palestinians. 48% said the U.S. should "take Israel's side, in the conflict," while 7% said "the Palestinian's side." 65% said "the Israelis are doing more to advance the peace process in the Middle East" and 7% said "the Palestinians." (The Israel Project/News Blaze)

SEE ALSO: Why Bail Hamas Out? - Barry Rubin
The aid proposal most being talked about is having Western governments pay 160,000 PA employees. They would have no control over the wage levels determined by the PA, which the EU last year held to be too high. Moreover, the donors would have to pay a list of employees including hundreds of non-existent workers, whose salaries are pocketed by PA officials. Among the real civil servants taking regular salaries from Western donations would be teachers, officials, and clerics who tell their students how Israel and the West are demonic; who incite or even facilitate terrorism; and who advocate genocide. Many of those who would be supported by Western taxpayers are themselves active terrorists, either for Fatah or Hamas. (Jerusalem Post)

How to Reduce Palestinian Dependence on International Aid - Editorial
The Palestinian economy was in dire straits long before Hamas' ascension to power resulted in the withholding of financial support by the international community. Over the last decade billions of dollars were donated with few tangible, and almost no self-sustaining, benefits to show for such well-meant assistance. The international community must internalize the lessons of having thrown money into the bottomless pit of a terror-ridden, corrupt, and economically directionless PA.

Like any investors looking for return on their investment, they should have insisted on a "business plan," an overall strategy intended ultimately to reduce the Palestinians' dependence on international aid. They should have set out the goals to be achieved with donated funds, and the benchmarks for determining progress. And the funding should have been explicitly conditioned on such progress. (Jerusalem Post)