[BRIEF NOTE] Itchy and Scratchy in the Levant

[rfmcdpei]

Via CBC.

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in his first interview since taking power last month, will tell the Israeli public he intends to hold on to Israel's three major settlement blocs as well as West Bank communities on the border with Jordan, the interviewer told Army Radio on Tuesday

Comments

[piratehead]

Maybe the Palestinians can have bingo and casinos, unless that's haram.

[rfmcdpei]

If you were Israeli, would you want to go to the West Bank or the Gaza after the events of the past few years?

There's going to be a separation. There has to be a separation. It has to be clean, else it'll fester.

[inuitmonster]

Sorry to reply to an old post, but I think a Palestinian run casino opened in Jericho before the Al-Aqsa Intifada started. It was intended largely to soak money from Israelis, but I understand that subsequent events have made it less than successful at this endeavour.

[anonymous]

In the actual speech (made after the CBC article was posted), Olmert was much more cagey about the future of the Jordan Valley. He said that Israel will have to ensure the security of "its eastern border," which leaves plenty of post-election wiggle room about what the "eastern border" is. Election rhetoric aside, I'd guess that the most plausible evidence of Israel's intended future border is the physical evidence - i.e., the fence/wall/barrier.

Jonathan Edelstein