Olmert: Sweaty palms

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is hoping to shake hands with an old adversary, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in Paris on Sunday when they both attend the launch of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s Mediterranean Union. 

Some progress in his nascent attempt at diplomacy on the Syria track would be a welcome diversion from his domestic woes; he was questioned again by police over bribery allegations last week and this week, and his lawyers are questioning the former friend who made the allegations.  Yet Assad will not be relishing the meeting.  He will not want to give away a handshake so cheaply, especially since he appears to be waiting for a new US president to be installed before pushing for real progress.

Olmert is also engaged in talks with two other old adversaries.  Egypt is mediating talks to solidify the Gaza truce with Hamas and to move talks on to a prisoner exchange, which would see Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was captured in a cross-border raid by Palestinian militants two years ago, freed.  He is also expecting to see progress on a prisoner swap with Hizbollah, which will see the return of two Israeli soldiers also seized in 2006, although they are believed to have died.  The return of all three soldiers would be a welcome boost to Olmert.

There is another factor that these three initiatives have in common: they all involve allies of Iran who could be used as proxies by Tehran as part of its retaliation for an Israeli air raid on its nuclear facilities, which is the subject of so much current speculation.