JERUSALEM – With his Kadima Party just weeks away from electing a new leader, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is making a concerted last-ditch effort to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Olmert has drawn up a detailed peace offer and presented it to U.S. and Palestinian leaders. After being shown the plan last week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described it as "very generous."

Although the Palestinians say wide gaps remain, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert reportedly agreed in talks Sunday to make every effort to wrap up a full-fledged peace agreement by the end of the year.

JERUSALEM – When Prime Minister Ehud Olmert goes to Moscow next month, his first order of business will be to make sure the Russians don’t sell sophisticated new weaponry to Syria that could alter the military status quo in the Middle East.

Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad visited Russia to make a pitch for the arms, new anti-aircraft missiles and ground-to-ground rockets that would put all of the Jewish state within range of Damascus.

Though Russia rejected the request, the Russians apparently are prepared to sell Syria other anti-aircraft missiles, state-of-the-art anti-tank missiles, and fighter planes.

JERUSALEM – With Israel and the United States both entering periods of political transition, the differences between the two countries over how to deal with the Iran problem appear to be deepening.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak recently asked former Israel Air Force commander Eliezer Shkedi to draw up a realistic strike option against Iran’s nuclear facilities. As part of that process, Israel submitted purchase requests to the United States for new weaponry and ordnance.

But according to reliable Israeli media reports — confirmed by Israeli officials in Jerusalem and Washington — the United States has yet to approve most of the requested special equipment.

JERUSALEM – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s decision to resign after a new Kadima Party leader is elected in September has opened up the possibility of radical new directions in Israeli policy.

As of now Olmert has four potential successors, since Kadima’s new leader may not be able to stave off new general elections.

Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party and Shaul Mofaz of Kadima are inveterate hawks who see peace, if it is at all possible, being achieved only in drawn-out, painstaking stages. Tzipi Livni of Kadima and Ehud Barak of the Labor Party are pragmatic doves ready to cut to the chase but wary of illusory quick fixes.

Calamity or possibility? Verdict out

JERUSALEM – Israeli strategic thinkers are deeply divided over the implications of the truce between Israel and the Gaza-based Hamas fundamentalists. But whatever their perspective, most agree that it could have a profound impact on the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations.

There are several schools of thought:

• Dovish optimists hope the truce, or "tahadiyeh," will create a new atmosphere in which genuine peacemaking with all Palestinian factions — moderates and fundamentalists alike — is possible.

JERUSALEM – A six-month cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, due to go into effect Thursday, June 19, could help create conditions for wider peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.

But there are two huge potential stumbling blocks: Israeli generals doubt whether the "tahadiyeh," or truce, will hold and believe the chances that Hamas and the more moderate Fatah, which controls the west bank, will work in tandem for a wider peace deal are remote.

When Hamas violently took control of the Gaza Strip a year ago, Israeli and American leaders saw a window of opportunity for peacemaking with the relatively moderate Fatah leaders.

The idea was that with Hamas out of the way, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas finally could negotiate the two-state deal Israel and the Palestinians have been trying to close ever since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

JERUSALEM – Although Israeli officialdom is not commenting on the possibility of a Barack Obama presidency, in private some officials in Jerusalem are expressing mixed feelings about the prospect.

Some in government quarters are concerned that Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, might be soft on Iran, pressure Israel to make concessions on the Palestinian track, and even change the tenor of the strategic relationship between Israel and the United States.

Yet Foreign Ministry experts on U.S. foreign policy say no American president, Obama included, would adopt an overtly anti-Israel posture.

JERUSALEM – The media and the political establishment in Israel already have decided: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is through.

The cover on Ma’ariv’s weekend political magazine shows a framed portrait of a sad-looking Olmert on the wall of a government office with the caption "Ehud Olmert — Prime Minister 2006-2008."

Now his Kadima Party is preparing for a new leadership contest and the country could be heading toward new elections.

JERUSALEM – After major speeches in the Knesset and at Sharm el-Sheik, President Bush left the Middle East Sunday with little to show for advancing America’s strategic goals in the region.

Israeli and Arab pundits alike pointed to a large gap between America’s words and deeds, which they say is exacerbating a growing U.S. credibility problem.

During Bush’s visit, which was timed for Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the president failed to strengthen or reassure the moderate Arab alliance against Iran, made little headway on Israeli-Palestinian peace, and failed to offer an American plan for countering Iran’s growing influence in Lebanon.

JERUSALEM – Ehud Olmert is fighting for his political life on three fronts: legal, political, and in the court of public opinion.

The multi-pronged battle follows allegations that the prime minister may have violated campaign regulations or taken bribes as mayor of Jerusalem or minister of trade, industry, and labor.

Olmert is said to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars — ostensibly as political campaign donations — between 1993 and 2006. The money allegedly came through Morris Talansky, an American fund-raiser, who handed over most of it in cash.