(freeinternetpress)...Some Israelis say that they have almost never had it this good....For once, there is good news from the Holy Land. But in the Middle East, what may seem positive today could lead to even more catastrophic developments in the future.
Tel Aviv's beaches are packed with tourists, the hotels in Jerusalem are booked solid, and Israel is reporting record numbers of visitors for the first two weeks of August. The country's robust economy has returned to positive numbers this quarter. Even more important, an almost total calm has descended on Israel. Rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip have dwindled, there have been almost no Palestinian terrorist attacks from the West Bank, and the weapons have been silent on the Lebanese border.
The Palestinians are busy with their own problems, including deepening internal political divisions. The general congress of the moderate Fatah movement, which is in power in the West Bank, has just ended in Bethlehem. But Fatah was unable to swallow its pride and unequivocally recognize Israel. Instead, what emerged from the congress was a backward looking policy, only with younger faces presenting it.
The radical Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, makes no secret of its view of Fatah as its adversary and Israel as its mortal enemy. But Hamas is currently preoccupied with its bloody suppression of competing extremists with ties to al-Qaeda in its territory.
For many Israelis, it seems as if the Middle East conflict were on hold, and they are having little trouble getting used to the relatively comfortable status quo. They credit the hard-line administration of Netanyahu, 59, with the current calm. Netanyahu,who has been in office for close to five months, is serving as prime minister for the second time. His first term, from 1996 to 1999, is widely viewed as not having been very successful. But "Bibi," as Netanyahu is affectionately known, is popular at the moment, and so is his intransigence. As a result, he is traveling to meetings with allies armed with strong popular support. On Tuesday, Netanyahu meets in London with George Mitchell, the United States government's special envoy to the Middle East, and on Wednesday he is expected in Berlin.....
Tel Aviv's beaches are packed with tourists, the hotels in Jerusalem are booked solid, and Israel is reporting record numbers of visitors for the first two weeks of August. The country's robust economy has returned to positive numbers this quarter. Even more important, an almost total calm has descended on Israel. Rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip have dwindled, there have been almost no Palestinian terrorist attacks from the West Bank, and the weapons have been silent on the Lebanese border.
The Palestinians are busy with their own problems, including deepening internal political divisions. The general congress of the moderate Fatah movement, which is in power in the West Bank, has just ended in Bethlehem. But Fatah was unable to swallow its pride and unequivocally recognize Israel. Instead, what emerged from the congress was a backward looking policy, only with younger faces presenting it.
The radical Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, makes no secret of its view of Fatah as its adversary and Israel as its mortal enemy. But Hamas is currently preoccupied with its bloody suppression of competing extremists with ties to al-Qaeda in its territory.
For many Israelis, it seems as if the Middle East conflict were on hold, and they are having little trouble getting used to the relatively comfortable status quo. They credit the hard-line administration of Netanyahu, 59, with the current calm. Netanyahu,who has been in office for close to five months, is serving as prime minister for the second time. His first term, from 1996 to 1999, is widely viewed as not having been very successful. But "Bibi," as Netanyahu is affectionately known, is popular at the moment, and so is his intransigence. As a result, he is traveling to meetings with allies armed with strong popular support. On Tuesday, Netanyahu meets in London with George Mitchell, the United States government's special envoy to the Middle East, and on Wednesday he is expected in Berlin.....
