I think it's Chomsky whose analysis of this situation includes the observation that the best thing about having a pe4ace process is that you never have to have actual peace as long as there is a process 'going forward'...
Real News fuukin rawks...

It's not clear from the report what the reasons for Avigdor Lieberman of Yisrael Beiteinu (hard (?) right), the Israeli Labor party (socialist), the Shas party (right wing ultra-orthodox theocrats) (and I guess others) threatening to leave the coalition are. Do they object to the process per se, or just to its current form? What do they object to about it? My guess is it differs per faction.

I may be wrong but i seem to recall that Avigdor Lieberman is a jew from Russia, and indeed a far-right politician. I believe he actually boasted about killing palestinian civilians once.

The way it looks right now, Lieberman (indeed a hard right character, immigrated to Israel from the (then current, now former) USSR) looks set to partner with other right-wing hardliners when the Olmcert gov't crashes to its inevitable end upon publication of the Winograd Commission's report about what actually happened in decision-making process of Israel's 2006 war-crimes extravaganza in Lebanon.

The report is due to be published January 30th, and there is a general sense that it will leave no stone unthrown, especially with regard to the last 60 hours of Israel's assault, *after* it had come to a cease-fire agreement, which were expressly described as a push to improve the image of success. That phase of the assault violently ended the lives of 33 of the 119 Israeli soldiers claimed in the event.

Avigdor (Yvet) Lieberman is likely to join Netanyahu and some new Israeli political party (the old ones aren't likely to draw many votes).

Expected timeline: if the report is published on Jan 30, Olmert will need to have a big war going on before that date in order to avoid being forced to resign (it is not customary to change leadership under fire). The rocket barrage from besieged Gaza provides a perfect excuse for a full-scale war (there has been pretty much incessant bombardment of Gaza for quite a while, now, but somehow, Gazans don't stop shooting at Israelis when they're shot at. Funny, that.)

However - Ehud Barak (former prime minister, former chief of staff) is their Minister of Defense may magnanimously take on the role of Prime Minister, even during a war, if Olmert doesn't hold on tightly enough to his PM's seat.

(Information sources: the Israeli press, in Hebrew, which I read daily in the vain hopes of finding any clue of actual willingness by the Israelis to share physical and political resources with the Palestinians.)

Substance aside, I really like the editing of the second piece. Very fast, very specific, very on topic---much more informative than the usual juxtaposition of B real and voiceover.