Think Livni or Netanyahu is in charge? Think again

When Yogi Berra said it ain’t over until it’s over, he could well have had the likes of Ehud Olmert in mind. He is perched to do a deal that will severely restrict the maneruvering of the future prime minister of Israel — whether it’s Tzipi Livni, Benjamin Netanyahu,  or both of them or someone else.

On the surface, the latest move of Ehud Olmert looks promising. He sprung a surprise on Hamas in the indirect ceasefire talks he is conducting with this avowed terrorist organization via Egypt. He said: Until you release kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, no deal. No open Gaza borders. Take it or leave.

When we heard this, we said: Great. Finally Olmert is standing up for Gilad Shalit. We didn’t know the fine print, however. It goes something like this. In exchange for one kidnapped solider, Israel is prepared to accede to Hamas’ demands to release some 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, including some 400 of them with “blood on their hands,” i.e., murderers or accessories to murder. And — get this — including Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms for murder.

Here Olmert is back in form. He seems to stand strong, but in reality gives away the store — as if it would take the slightest additional backbone or be the slightest less effective to demand Shalit’s release for a single Palestinian prisoner, who is not a murderer, in exchange for open borders. Who won this last war, anyway? In the real world, the one not occupied by Ehud Olmert, losers don’t dictate terms.

But even this is hardly the worst part. Marwan Barghouti is a likely candidate to replace the PA President Mahmoud Abbas and, if a Palestininan state were actually to emerge from future negotiations, to be its first president. That’s the Olmert legacy — trying to force his version of a “moderate” Palestinian leader, a convicted mass murderer, onto his successors, when his own record ranks as the worst of any Israeli prime minister, ever.

This isn’t farfetched. Barghouti is a charismatic figure. He’s some 25 years younger than Abbas. He’s the man Hamas wants out more than anyone. His release would be a crystal clear message that kidnapping works. That is how an Israeli-Paletinian peace deal would start out.

It would be no easier for Livni or Netanyahu to refuse to deal with Barghouti than it was for Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres, Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon to refuse to deal with Yasir Arafat. Thank you, Ehud Olmert.