JERUSALEM — The violent divorce between the main Palestinian factions has provided a second wind for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, two weak leaders whose earlier attempts at peacemaking went nowhere.
In the days since Hamas' military triumph over Abbas' Fatah movement in the Gaza Strip, Olmert has sought to bolster Fatah by signaling his government's willingness to free tax and customs revenue that Israel has withheld from the Palestinian Authority since Hamas took control of the parliament after January 2006 elections.
Abbas, meanwhile, has shown a new assertiveness by sacking the Hamas-led government and naming a moderate new Cabinet that has won a renewal of aid from the United States and the European Union. Abbas' authority will in effect be limited to the West Bank, thus isolating Gaza, which is under control of the radical Islamist group.
Abbas has sought to capitalize on the dramatic events by calling for substantive peace talks with Israel after a lull of more than six years. A spokesman, Nabil abu Rudaineh, declared it a "new era."
Israeli and Palestinian analysts say the realignment on the Palestinian side could breathe new life into a peace process that was stalled even before widespread violence and the rise of Hamas torpedoed hope for progress.
"Israel should take the steps that it hasn't taken before," Yossi Sarid, a leftist former member of the Israeli parliament, said Tuesday on Army Radio. "The moderate Palestinians will have the upper hand and the fanatic Palestinians will be at a disadvantage."
Analysts warn, however, not to expect a dramatic breakthrough, even with the Palestinian government now led by moderates who support side-by-side Israeli and Palestinian states. Rather, they say, moderate steps are more likely.
Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and analyst, said the next rounds of bilateral talks would probably center on maintenance issues, such as when border crossings would be open, rather than root disagreements, including the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees and ongoing Israeli construction in West Bank settlements.
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'A humanitarian conflict'
"Israel has successfully managed to turn this conflict from a political conflict to a humanitarian conflict," she said. "Nobody's going to talk about Jerusalem or refugees or settlements."
Hamas' absence from the recognized Palestinian government could give Olmert maneuvering room to make concessions, some analysts say. Renewed diplomatic movement could shore up Abbas and give Olmert a sorely needed political agenda.
But Olmert is too politically weak, some analysts believe, to make the kinds of concessions that would boost Abbas' standing among Palestinians, and the same political schisms that fed the brutal Palestinian infighting in Gaza last week could also wind up destabilizing the West Bank.
"It's an opportunity, and [Olmert] should talk to him," said Uri Dromi, director of international outreach at the Israel Democracy Institute. "The question is, what are the Palestinians preparing for themselves, or aspiring for?" wow powerlevelingyiwu chinawow power levelingchina gifts
Olmert steadied his coalition in recent days by naming Ehud Barak, the former prime minister elected as the new chief of the Labor Party, as his defense minister. That will keep Barak's left-leaning party in the governing alliance for now.
Palestinian analyst Ghassan Khatib said that fulfilling Israel's stated goal of strengthening Abbas and other moderates would require significant concessions. Lesser measures could end up backfiring against Abbas, he said, by making the Palestinian Authority president appear complicit with policies that many Palestinians will oppose, including isolating Hamas.
"The only way to increase the public support is if the peace camp can make political progress," Khatib said. "That will require a different approach from Washington and Tel Aviv."
Israeli analysts say progress will be made only if Abbas, hobbled by indecisiveness during more than two years in office, reins in Fatah-linked militias that have carried out numerous attacks against Israelis and ensures order in the West Bank.China factorygo to yiwuBeijing tourImitation jewelry
"The major thing that needs to happen is for Abbas to consolidate his political and security control in the West Bank. That means Fatah needs to get its act together," said Gidi Grinstein, president of the Reut Institute, an Israeli think tank
WASHINGTON — Two powerful blocs among Democrats — organized labor and liberal activists — heard several of the party's presidential contenders pledge allegiance Thursday to a progressive agenda more sweeping than would have seemed politically palatable not long ago.
The candidates' liberal chorus about the war in Iraq, gay rights, healthcare and labor issues was a testament to the Democratic left wing's growing strength since the Republican rout in the 2006 midterm election.
The White House hopefuls called for broad healthcare reform. All embraced allowing gays to serve in the military, a step to the left of President Clinton's policy of "don't ask, don't tell."
The rival candidates also paid homage to their party's deep antiwar sentiment by competing for the mantle of being the most strongly opposed to the war in Iraq.
Speaking to a labor group in Washington were Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio.
The forum of liberal groups, which convened a few blocks away, heard Edwards, Obama and Richardson, along with Mike Gravel, a former senator from Alaska. Clinton and Kucinich are scheduled to address that group today.
At a time when many Republicans are dissatisfied with their presidential candidates, the mood at the twin forums illustrated the energy and high hopes coursing through liberal ranks.
"There's enthusiasm and optimism that someone in this room will be elected president," said Wayne Holland Jr., head of the Utah Democratic Party who attended the conference of liberal activists organized by the Campaign for America's Future. "There's a confidence I've never seen."
However, by pushing their nominee to the left during the primary contests, Democrats risk not being able to win over more conservative voters in a general election. But for now, progressives see the field of candidates catering to liberal interests as an embarrassment of riches.china arts and craftsworld of warcraft power levelingagent in yiwu
"I was impressed with all of them," said Allan Winey, an accountant in Pennsylvania who attended the day's first gathering, a meeting of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union. "They are all headed in the right direction."
The crowd at the union convention numbered about 2,000. More than 3,000 people were at the more boisterous conference of liberals.
A large contingent of Obama supporters packed one side of the hotel ballroom, hoisting blue signs and chanting his name before he spoke.
Edwards and Obama were each interrupted during their speeches by a band of activists chanting, "Beat the GOP. Beat the GOP."
Obama delivered his signature call for changing the nation's political culture from one driven by money, special interests and partisanship to one that makes room for a more civil, substantive and hopeful debate.
"Politics in this town is no longer a mission — it's a business," he said. "If you want a new kind of politics it's time to turn the page."wow powerlevelingyiwu purchasing agent
Edwards focused on the campaign promises that have helped cast him as the major candidate with the most liberal platform — with his calls to curb poverty, provide universal healthcare, combat AIDS in Africa and commit the U.S. to working more assertively to end genocide in Darfur.
Obama and Edwards sought to burnish their anti-Iraq war credentials.
Obama reminded the audience that, while serving in the Illinois state Senate, he opposed the invasion of Iraq from the outset while Edwards and Clinton voted for the Senate resolution authorizing the war.Made in chinayiwu buying agent日本ドラマtrading company in yiwuyiwu
Edwards stressed that, unlike Clinton, he has termed his vote for the war a mistake. He also chided Congress for not moving more aggressively to force an end to the U.S. military involvement in Iraq.
Earlier in the day, Richardson argued that he had the clearest plan to end the war — by removing all U.S. troops by the end of the year without leaving residual forces, as Clinton has suggested.
Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo's wife has an outstanding warrant for her arrest for failing to appear in court nearly nine years ago on charges of driving without insurance, with a suspended license and in an unregistered car, court records and officials confirmed Tuesday.
In addition, documents obtained by The Times show that in the last three years the Delgadillos were chronically late in paying fines for at least five parking tickets.
One violation for parking in a red zone in December 2006 was not paid until The Times inquired about the tickets last month. By then, the $70 infraction had become a $174 fine with penalties.
A spokesman for Delgadillo said Michelle Delgadillo was responsible for all the parking tickets and the delinquent payments.
Michelle Delgadillo's scofflaw status was yet another embarrassing development for the city's top prosecutor, who Monday disclosed that he had periodically let his wife drive his city-owned vehicle on a suspended license for personal errands.
In 2004, she had an accident while driving her husband's city-assigned GMC Yukon, which was repaired at taxpayer expense.
After ducking the issue for days, Delgadillo, who presides over the nation's third-largest municipal law office, held a news conference Monday to say that he was reimbursing the city for the $1,222 repair. He also acknowledged that he did not realize that he himself had driven as an uninsured motorist for about a year, while his wife had driven without insurance for more than two years.
Delgadillo told reporters at his news conference that he was sorry about the situation involving his wife and acknowledged that he should have stepped forward immediately with information about the accident. He also apologized for his "lapse in personal insurance coverage."
In a statement released by Delgadillo's office Tuesday, Michelle Delgadillo, 36, who once was an aide to former City Councilman Joel Wachs, said she was "very embarrassed to find myself in this situation today."
She said she was working to resolve the warrant issue "as quickly as possible."
"I will do whatever the court instructs me to do. I apologize for any embarrassment this has caused my husband and family," she said. "It is completely my mistake."Purchasing agent in yiwuchina shoes and socks
Delgadillo also released a statement about the bench warrant still pending from his wife's traffic violations, which occurred in Santa Monica.
"I was unaware that there was any outstanding warrant," he said. "As soon as I learned about this today, I immediately urged my wife to remedy the situation, and she is working to resolve this. My wife is embarrassed about this, and I am embarrassed as well."
According to documents obtained by The Times, Michelle Delgadillo was cited by a California Highway Patrol officer on Aug. 1, 1998, in Santa Monica for allegedly driving with an expired Montana driver's license. The offense occurred two weeks before she married Delgadillo. The ticket was written under her maiden name, Namen.
The citation also said that the tan BMW 325 she was driving had expired registration tags and that she had no proof of insurance. The Santa Monica city attorney's office filed a three-count criminal case against her.
When Michelle Delgadillo did not appear in court a month later for her arraignment, the judge in the case issued a $2,000 bench warrant, records show. That warrant remains active, according to officials with the Santa Monica city attorney's office and court records reviewed by The Times. smoke detectoryiwu Translation Servicefoosball tableyiwu market
Under that warrant, Michelle Delgadillo is subject to arrest. Because of jail overcrowding in Los Angeles County, it is not uncommon for police to give defendants a citation to appear in court rather than arrest them, particularly if the offense is relatively minor, experts said.
After the 1998 citation, Michelle Delgadillo applied for, and received, a California driver's license. That license was suspended in July 2004 when she failed to provide proof of insurance at the scene of an accident earlier that same year.World of Warcraft Goldmotion detectorexport agent in yiwuBuying agent in yiwu
Delgadillo's staff Monday confirmed that she did not have insurance at the time. Her license was not renewed until earlier this year, yet for nearly three years she continued to drive the family's SUV and, at times, her husband's city-owned Yukon. china Christmas item
Shortly after her license was suspended in 2004, Michelle Delgadillo was involved in the accident with her husband's Yukon. She damaged the vehicle when she backed into a pole in a parking lot near her doctor's office.
NYC mayor leaves Republican Party, registers as independent
NEW YORK -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg left the Republican Party today and switched to unaffiliated, a move certain to be seen as a prelude to an independent presidential bid that would upend the 2008 race.
The billionaire former CEO, who was a lifelong Democrat before he switched to the Republican Party in 2001 for his first mayoral run, said the change in his voter registration does not mean he is running for president.China manufactureImitation jewelryWOW Goldwow powerleveling
"Although my plans for the future haven't changed, I believe this brings my affiliation into alignment with how I have led and will continue to lead our city," Bloomberg said.
With an estimated worth of more than $5 billion, he easily could finance an independent presidential bid.
The 65-year-old mayor has increasingly been the subject of speculation that he will run as an independent in 2008, despite his repeated promises to leave politics after the end of his term in 2009. As detailed in a Times blog item Tuesday, he has fueled the buzz with increasing out-of-state travel, a greater focus on national issues and repeated criticism of the partisan politics that dominate Washington. China exportermotion detectoryiwu trading company
"The politics of partisanship and the resulting inaction and excuses have paralyzed decision-making, primarily at the federal level, and the big issues of the day are not being addressed, leaving our future in jeopardy," he said in a speech Monday at the start of a University of Southern California conference about the advantages of nonpartisan governing.
Throughout his 51/2 years as mayor, Bloomberg has often been at odds with his party and President Bush. He supports gay marriage, abortion rights, gun control and stem cell research, and raised property taxes to help solve a fiscal crisis after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.yiwu agentsmoke detectorExport agent in yiwu
But he never seemed willing to part with the GOP completely, raising money for the 2004 presidential convention and contributing to Bush and other Republican candidates.
Just last year, he told a group of Manhattan Republicans about his run for mayor: "I couldn't be prouder to run on the Republican ticket and be a Republican."
Port Authority Needs More Openness, Governors Say, and They Have a Plan
The governors of New York and New Jersey are seeking an end to most secret meetings and want greater disclosure on how contracts are awarded at the powerful agency that operates the two states’ major bridges, tunnels and airports in the New York metropolitan area.
The measures would ban most closed-door meetings, protect the awarding of contracts from “inappropriate lobbying,” disclose “outside business dealings” of top officials and detail the pay of the 20 highest-paid staff members, according to the letter, which was released yesterday.
Lilo Stainton, Mr. Corzine’s press secretary, said there was no arm-twisting implicit in the letter and no particular incident or issue that prompted the proposal. She characterized the request as part of a collaborative effort with the authority, which last year opened meetings to the public, held public votes by officials and started listing its contracts on its Web site.
The governors head the authority and each appoints 6 of the 12 commissioners. The chairman of the authority, Anthony Coscia, “has been quite a leader” on making the authority more open, Ms. Stainton said.
“The governors feel very strongly that the commissioners will implement this immediately,” perhaps as early as this week, she said.
But Richard L. Brodsky, a New York assemblyman and a frequent critic of the Port Authority, said the governors’ proposals, which call for an amendment of the authority’s bylaws, did not go far enough.
“That’s a way for governors to keep legislatures out of the picture,” said Mr. Brodsky, a Democrat from Westchester.
Rather than rely on the authority to change its practices, he said, both states should pass laws to require more accountability from the Port Authority and to appoint an inspector general to investigate wrongdoing. The authority, Mr. Brodsky said, has been an agency “uncontrolled by laws or democratic institutions.”yiwu export agentChina fairgas detector
The authority has an operating budget of more than $5 billion. It operates Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International airports; a seaport at the Port of Newark; the bus terminals in Midtown Manhattan and at the George Washington Bridge; the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge; and is overseeing rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, which it owns.
Stephen Sigmund, chief of public and government affairs for the authority, said, “We continue to make the Port Authority more open and more transparent, and we will continue to work with” the governors “to implement these changes in the coming weeks.”
The governors’ proposal is intended to correct a quirk in the running of the authority, which was established 86 years ago.
Even though New York and New Jersey have similar laws reducing secrecy in government, those laws do not apply to the authority, which is a bistate agency with headquarters in Manhattan. Its decisions, like a short-lived plan to place a Geico billboard at the George Washington Bridge toll plaza, have occasionally annoyed lawmakers of one or both states.日本ドラマyiwu marketLOUIS VUITTON
Last October, Mr. Coscia, the chairman, ordered less secrecy in governance, but the policies could conceivably be rescinded by his successor. The governors want the changes to be made permanent through an amendment of the authority’s bylaws.
In their letter, the governors proposed that the authority’s audit committee “conduct an external audit of the Port Authority annually.”
The governors also wanted the commissioners to disclose “any outside business dealings that Board members, their employers, or their immediate family members have had with the Port Authority during the previous year, and require executive staff to do the same.”
The governors also wanted the board to “identify, list the compensation of, and set forth the educational background and professional experience of the 20 highest-paid Port Authority executive staff members.”
