It is interesting to note how the "Pesach terminology" has started to creep into the daily conversation.

Listening to the radio you will hear many phrases taken straight from the haggadah to describe various situations.

One that I heard this evening was "Chasal Seder Annapolis". They were discussing Avigdor Lieberman's grand entry into the Foreign Ministry today. At the ceremony of his taking the reins of the office, one of the things he said was that they will uphold previous agreements such as the Road Map, but Annapolis was never voted on or agreed to so they are doing away with it and will not be bound by anything Olmert promised at Annapolis.

The radio host called it "Chasal Seder Annapolis".

There were others as well throughout the day, but that is the one that I remember off the top of my head.

Someone sent me this video as a response to the recent Annapolis Conference.....


and then I found this one....

In anticipation of the Annapolis conference in which Ehud Olmert is expected to offer much of the Land of Israel to the lowest bidder, the Association of Rabbis for the People and Land of Israel (I have never before heard of this association, which means nothing) held a conference yesterday to come out with a joint decision and statement of position regarding what Olmert is expected to effect in Annapolis.

Rabbi Dov Lior said, according to Ynet, "We must cleanse the country of Arabs and resettle them in the countries where they came from, If this means we have to pay them, we will. Without doing so, we will never enjoy peace in our land."

This statement of his is coming under the usual criticism. He is a racist. He is guilty of incitement. he should be investigated. etc.

Statements put out by this and any other right wing organization can and will be largely ignored. They will only be used as fodder for accusing the right wing public of being racist. No statement they can ever put out will ever be taken seriously or considered seriously, and therefore such conferences and association are pretty much worthless.

I am not sure what the appropriate arena for right wing activism is. We have already seen the ineffectiveness of any and all groups to thwart or derail or even just draw away support for left wing policy. No amount or type of protest swayed Ariel Sharon, none will sway Olmert, and the general public continues to imbibe the press statements put out by Olmert's spin doctors and media advisers as of they were holy writ and everything else should be ignored.

The country has become one that is controlled by Public Relations experts and actual policy debate with content is abandoned. As a result we had Ehud Olmert putting out conflicting statements in the weeks leading up to Annapolis.

According to one Annapolis is just a simple meeting - nothing more than that and nothing will happen. Then he puts out a statement how this is the most exciting breakthrough in recent past giving us a true chance for peace.

Then he puts out statements how Ramon's plan to divide Jerusalem is just that - Ramon's plan; Ramon has no authority and his plan has not been accepted by the government and when Ramon talks about it he represents nobody but himself. Then he puts out a statement saying we can and should split Jerusalem for reasons x, y and z.

Then he puts out statements how Annapolis is really nothing big and nobody should be concerned, it is just a way to get talks going... etc.

Olmert gives out nothing of substance and no real information. He only says things his media people allow him to say considering how it will affect his standing in public opinion, world opinion, his image, his investigations, how coalition, etc.

Do we really have any idea what Olmert is planning to do in Annapolis? No, because he has put out so many conflicting statements we really have no idea. he probably does not even know. When it happens he will decide what is best and then he will tell us what he wants to tell us. And his media advisers will formulate exactly what needs to be said and how it should be said, and they will sell it based on their decision.

So right wing debate and trying to deal with the actual issues is pointless because the public buys what Olmert's media advisers sell them. After that anybody who wants to disagree is either an unrealistic right wing fanatic or somebody who is racist and borderline treasonous.

Last week there were two earthquakes in Israel. One was a small one, listed at about a 3.0 on the Richter scale, while the second was stronger registering a 4.2. These happened in the Dead Sea region, with the shocks being felt as far as Jerusalem.

This past Friday night was another earthquake registering at 4.1 on the Richter Scale. The epicenter was in the center of the country, just outside of Ramle. In Bet Shemesh we felt it. By "we" I mean the general public. I slept right through it. My wife told em about it in the morning when I got up. So, it turns out I really can sleep through even an earthquake!

The Sadigura Rebbe has said that the cause of these recent earthquakes is the government discussing giving away parts of Eretz Yisrael. He said these are the times of Mashiach and we must all repent.

In other Annapolis news, the police came under heavy pressure to delay their announcement of a decision regarding the possible indictment of Olmert. It was scheduled to be announced today, but they delayed it now because of Annapolis.

And in other Annapolis news, remember Ami Ayalon? The guy who ran for leadership of the Labor party under the banner of his refusing to sit in olmert's government and calling for its dismantlement? Remember him - the guy who said he would never take the position of Minister without Portfolio because it is a waste of public money and has no purpose, then he went ahead and took exactly that position?

Remember him? Well, now he met with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in an attempt to convince him to not alow Shas to pull out of the government even if things in Annapolis go against his wishes. He called on Shas, even if Lieberman pulls his party out, to "show responsibility, stay in the government and support a diplomatic process that is essential to the existence of the state of Israel."

So, he ran on the platform of Olmert's government being corrupt and he would never sit in it. He then reneged on that promise, ok. Maybe he had reason to (good salary perhaps, for the cynics) . But now he has the chutzpah to campaign on its behalf and work to keeping it alive? At best he can justify his own taking the position but still that does not justify his campaigning on the governments behalf as if it is the responsible position.

The political situation reminds me of the old book "The Giving Tree" by Shel Silverstein. In The Giving Tree, the boy befriends a tree and the tree provides the boy with all his needs. Fruit, shade, vines to swing on, branches, etc. The tree gives the boy everything he asks for. The tree even allows the boy to cut it down so he can have wood to build a boat.

Here we have a government giving the Palestinians everything they want and ask for and Israel asks for nothing in return. And anything the Palestinians promised to give Israel has been ignored and forgotten.

I have no problem with the government negotiating and giving away land and releasing prisoners and receiving security and other things in return. I should preface that and say that theoretically I have no problem with it. I think this specific government has no legitimacy due to its corruption and its failures, so this government has no right to do so.

I might not want it, as I believe all the Land belongs to us, but I understand it and accept the fact that to resolve the conflict we will need to negotiate and give away land in order to receive security. I also do not believe we have a reliable and trustworthy partner, so I believe that the only way such negotiations are acceptable and I would be resolved to them is if we did have a reliable partner. As long as our "partner" is using the negotiations as a tool to destroy us and not to live peacefully with us side by side, then I will still not be resolved to the situation.

Back to the situation, we have already given the Palestinians plenty of land. Some of it unilaterally while destroying Jewish families and homes in the process, and some of it under agreement. We have released many prisoners, some as part of negotiations and some as goodwill.

We keep doing things for the Palestinians and getting nothing in return.

Qassam rockets still rain down daily on Israeli cities. A soldier has been kidnapped and no contact with him has been allowed, even for humanitarian purposes (yes a tape was released of him but there was never any confirmation as to the timeframe of the tape). Terror reigns (we have not had suicide attacks because the Israeli security stops them, not because the PA security stops them). We hardly ever are allowed to go to holy sites in Arab areas. The PA textbooks in their schools still ignore the existence of Israel and the desire for the destruction of Israel is still taught. Palestinian militias have never been disarmed.

Basically we are the giving tree for the Palestinans.

Now we are going to Annapolis which will be opening up a new page in our negotiations with the Palestinians. And instead of making the PA keep and fulfill all the promises they have made until now but never fulfilled, and instead of saying you want x, y or z, let's negotiate and let your demands be part of the negotiations, we offer all that in advance.

Olmert has now announced a freeze in settlement building, even on natural growth expansion. Israel announced it is going to free 500 more prisoners as a gesture before Annapolis.

I see no reason why these should not be deferred to negotiations. Israel should say, you want settlement freeze? let's negotiate. Why do we accept that as a precondition?

Israel is The Giving Tree. The question is are we going to keep giving even until we allow the Palestinians to cut us down to a stump?