By Danny Rubinstein, Ha'aretz, 14.03.07

There was no need for the meeting last night between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, if the goal was for the former to hear that chances are good for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, once the PA unity government is formed. Everyone has known this for some time. Neither was there a need to bother the two leaders simply for the decision to be made to extend the hours of operation at the Karni Crossing until 11 P.M. Why, then, was the meeting necessary?

It is common wisdom that it's the Americans who are pushing Olmert and Abbas to meet, in order to tone down the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so as not to cause them unnecessary problems in Iraq. More precisely, the experts claim that the U.S. administration, which is pressured by the Iraq situation, is trying to bring the Arab, Sunni-Muslim world over to its side, and therefore it cannot allow itself a flare-up on the Palestinian front. That, goes the reasoning, is the reason for the frequent trips to the region of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will shortly be visiting here again.

But American pressure is not the only reason for last night's meeting. It seems that such a meeting is important even though no one expects it to produce results and many perceived it as needless.
 
The few leaks that emerged from the meeting related to tough demands from both sides, demands that were obviously mutually rejected. Abbas called for restrictions on Palestinians in the territories to be eased, an expansion of the Gaza cease-fire to the West Bank, the transfer of Palestinian funds held by Israel, and the immediate release of elderly and sick prisoners. Olmert promised nothing, which means he rejected Abbas' demands, which is what led Mohammed Dahlan to define the meeting as difficult.

But even a difficult meeting can be significant; in internal Palestinian politics, it makes Abbas' advantage over Hamas conspicuous - after all, he is meeting with Israel's prime minister and senior statesmen from the region and around the world. Khaled Meshal is not having meetings like this, nor is Ismail Haniyeh. If there are no diplomatic meetings, if there are no efforts to renew the peace process, Abbas is irrelevant, and no one needs him.

Something in this spirit can also be said about Olmert. On the internal Israeli front he has been the subject of several investigations for some time. His rivals and no small number of his friends are expecting him to fall, whether because of the anticipated report on the Lebanon war or other affairs. Pollsters say there has never been a prime minister whose approval rating has dipped so low. In this context it may be asked: What point is there in a prime minister who serves as little more than a punching bag?

Olmert must, therefore, show some diplomatic activity. For a long while he has been asked by the center and the left why he does not meet with Abbas, who was begging for a meeting. Now that he has done so, it's not fair to complain about it.

Olmert should be praised, and encouraged to meet with Abbas as often as possible. Who knows, maybe something will even come of it in the end.