The New York Times Editorial, 18.08.08

History is unlikely to be kind to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel. He disastrously mismanaged the 2006 Lebanon war. And now, besmirched by financial scandals, he has announced plans to leave office as soon as a successor can be confirmed.
Mr. Olmert does, however, understand that a two-state solution with the Palestinians is vital for Israel’s security. We hope that his successor does as well and brings a greater sense of urgency to the negotiations.
There has always been a wide gap between what Mr. Olmert understands about the need for a peace settlement and what he has done about it. Merely meeting the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, for periodic talks is not enough.
Without jeopardizing its security, Israel could take important steps to improve the lives of ordinary Palestinians and give them a real stake in peace. In his remaining weeks or months in power, Mr. Olmert could burnish his legacy, and the prospects for an agreement, if he announced a full freeze on expansion of Jewish settlements and reduced the number of roadblocks in the West Bank that are strangling the Palestinian economy.
Those now maneuvering to succeed Mr. Olmert also need to behave responsibly. Two of the main contenders — Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni from Mr. Olmert’s Kadima Party and the Labor Party leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, favor a two-state solution. The other two — Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, also from Kadima, and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Likud Party leader and former prime minister — do not. They need to think again.
Negotiating a deal will require enormous political courage — for both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Among the many fraught issues are: drawing permanent boundaries that give Israel defensible frontiers and the Palestinians an economically viable state; finding a way for both states to claim Jerusalem as their capital; and compensating and resettling Palestinian refugees in the new Palestinian state.
Mr. Abbas’s position is complicated by the fact that his government controls only the West Bank. The Gaza Strip, where about a million and a half Palestinians live, is in the hands of Hamas.
The militant group is currently observing a ceasefire with the Israelis. But it does not acknowledge Israel’s right to exist, condones terrorism and refuses to be bound by past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians. A way must be found to help turn Hamas into a legitimate and acceptable negotiating partner.
Even in the West Bank, Mr. Abbas’s position is far from secure. Israel is right to insist that he take strong measures to contain extremists. He can win the political support he needs only by delivering concrete improvements in Palestinians’ daily lives and visible movement toward statehood. Israeli politicians unwilling to work with Mr. Abbas on these issues will only strengthen the hand of Hamas and other extremists.
Arab countries also need to face up to their responsibilities. They need to press Hamas toward more responsible positions and provide more political and economic support to Mr. Abbas.
President Bush has five months left in office. He, too, could bring some luster to his disastrous legacy if he truly engaged in the peace effort: providing a lot more support, encouragement and, yes, pressure to get the Israelis and the Palestinians to do what is necessary to move toward a peace deal.