Israel Will Buy Supplies for Gaza Hospitals, Premier Says

[Englander]

Up-is-down, War-is-peace, &tc, &tc, &tc.


Israel Will Buy Supplies for Gaza Hospitals, Premier Says

By STEVEN ERLANGER and GREG MYRE

JERUSALEM, May 18 — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said Thursday that Israel would buy drugs and medical equipment urgently needed by Palestinian hospitals in Gaza out of funds Israel is withholding from tax and customs receipts collected for the Palestinian Authority.

In an hourlong interview in his Jerusalem office, Mr. Olmert vehemently denied that there was any Palestinian "humanitarian crisis," calling it "for the time being total propaganda" based on what he was told by the Israeli military and intelligence officials he met with on Wednesday.

But as he prepared to leave Sunday for his first meeting as prime minister with President Bush, Mr. Olmert was also eager to short-circuit criticism of Israeli restrictions on the Palestinians since the militant group Hamas took control of the Palestinian government and to show that Israel was not prepared to see Palestinians suffer. His plan to pull thousands of Israelis out of West Bank settlements is a prime topic on the agenda for his American visit.

"We will pay if necessary out of our own pockets," he said, and get what is needed directly to the hospitals "as soon as possible," circumventing the Hamas government. "We wouldn't allow one baby to suffer one night because of a lack of dialysis," he said.

Mr. Olmert said he had agreed to take "the calculated risk" of opening the Karni crossing between Israel and Gaza in both directions despite security threats. On Thursday, however, Karni was open only for exports to Gaza because of "security reasons," the Israeli Army said.

More at;
New York Times

[bemildred]

1. Mr. Olmert's concern for Palestinian babies is very touching.

There is no crisis, and he's going to fix it right away.