OLMERT: NO PRISONER SWAP

PM reiterates no prisoner swap pledge (JPost)
Calling Damascus-based Hamas head Khaled Mashaal a "terrorist with blood on his hands," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated emphatically Monday that he would not release Palestinian prisoners to Hamas in exchange for Cpl. Gilad Shalit. ...

"He is not a legitimate partner for anything," Olmert said of Mashaal. "He is the head of an organization that openly, publicly and officially calls for the liquidation of the State of Israel. Therefore he is not a partner, will not be a partner, and I will not negotiate with Hamas. I repeat. I want it to be very clear. I don't negotiate with Hamas, I did not negotiate with Hamas, and I will not negotiate with Hamas." ...

The current Palestinian government, Olmert said, was "a terrorist government."

"This is the first time in modern history that there is whole government that is a terrorist government," he said. "This is not a government that is influenced by terror, not a government that sympathizes with terror. This government is terror. And many of the prominent leaders in this government are deeply involved in terror, which is why they were arrested."

Regarding criticism from the European Union of a "disproportionate" Israeli response in Gaza, Olmert asked: "What exactly is the criterion by which one measures the proportion of more than 1,000 missiles fired at innocent civilians against the measures taken by Israel?"

"Can one measure the anxiety, the fear, the shocks, the lack of security of tens of thousands of people living day in and day out for almost a year under the constant threat of missiles shot at them?" he asked.

He also asked when was the last time the EU condemned the rocket attacks on Israel or even suggested effective measures to stop them.

SEE ALSO: Olmert's words... (Roger Simon)
... on the Israeli response to the Shalit kidnapping and the repeated Qassam missile launching on Israeli territory: 'I don`t know of one democratic country in the world, one, that would accept and do nothing when 1,000 missiles are shot at innocent civilians at the heart of the country. Some of those who preach to us would have done a lot more in a more brutal, vicious and cruel way.'