Not like he could have pulled it off anyway. But whether he did it for that reason or for more spine-related reasons doesn’t really matter. The result is the same.
Interestingly, the article has Olmert drawing the red line at Barghouthi and refusing to move on the Fatah leader. It doesn’t say whether that means that he’s refusing to budge on Barghouthi and therefore obviously also refusing to budge on worse terrorists, or whether that means he’s refusing to budge on Barghouthi but sees room to negotiate on vicious animals like Saadat and Salameh. The latter would be… strange. But we’ve long ago stopped pretending that we have any idea what passes for tactical maneuvering in Olmert’s mind.
References:
* Olmert: not prepared to "pay any price" for soldier
* MR Prediction: Olmert Doesn’t Have The Political Capital To Meet Hamas’s Terms, Pull Off The Shalit Deal
Previously:
* Abbas: Hamas Will Free Shalit Soon. Hamas: No We Won’t.
* Palestinians Say They Won’t Release Shalit Because of Qana – Asks World to Forget That They Weren’t Going to Release Him Anyway
* Details Of Shalit Deal Emerging. You’re Not Going To Like It.
Cross-posted to:
* Israpundit
