By Matt Spetalnick
JERUSALEM, Dec. 2 (Reuters) - Israel issued a rare rebuke to Washington, its closest ally, on Tuesday, saying U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell would be making a mistake if he met the architects of a symbolic Middle East peace plan. Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert sharply criticised Powell for praising the accord, whose authors are trying to capitalise on broad international support following its launch on Monday at a gala ceremony in Switzerland. ''I think he (Powell) is making a mistake,'' Olmert told Israel Radio of the expected talks. ''I think he is not helping the process. I think this is a wrong step by a representative of the American administration.'' Both Israel's right-leaning government and Palestinian militants spearheading a three-year-old uprising have denounced the agreement, drafted by moderates from both sides, as ''capitulation.''
Asked what harm could come from discussing a proposal that even its authors agree is nothing but a straw man, Olmert replied "It's not the nature of the document per se, it's the fact that Powell is talking at all. He's clearly trying to establish some kind of channel of communication with those who would seek capitulation, and this is intolerable." Asked how the document could represent "capitulation" by both sides at once, Olmert replied "It's a capitulation to peace, dammit! It's a stalking horse for negotiation and resolution of our differences!"
Palestinian spokespersons agreed. "The channel of discussion must be kept shut at all costs," said Achmed Olmert, of the Palestinian Authority. "We agree that the specific words of the document aren't the problem - the problem is that the document exists, which suggests that peace is possible. Clearly, any such suggestion represents a capitulation to the forces of sanity."
Most observers doubt that Powell's discussions will have much effect. They note that the U.S. Administration is still publicly supporting the "Road Map to Peace" which has been subject to the backwards refolding of pre-emptive rejection and stuffed into the glove compartment of mediated talks. Powell apparently hopes to get the road map at least moved to the Sun Visor of leadership talks, if not actually spread out in the dashboard of implementation. Meanwhile the radiator of economic progress has boiled over, leaving the peace process stranded by the side of the road to nowhere while the Israeli and Palestinian drivers try to help by sucker-punching each other.
All of this makes it "all the more important," according to the Olmerts , "that we not talk about things that might cause peace. We have a lot more punching to do first."
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