In a place where the element of shock is hardly recognizable anymore, US President George W. Bush was able to bring it back to life. On May 15, as part of a three-day visit to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations, the US President addressed the Knesset and came out sounding more Catholic than the Pope.

Bush gushed about his country’s commitment to Israel saying the US is “proud to be Israel’s closest ally and best friend,” lauding Israel’s leaders as having “forged a free and modern society based on the love of liberty, a passion for justice and a respect for human dignity.”

The speech was filled with similar praises, with Bush promising Israel America’s full support in fighting what he termed “terrorists.”

“Israel's population may be just over 7 million. But when you confront terror and evil, you are 307 million strong, because America stands with you,” he assured Knesset members who applauded him repeatedly.

Bush even used the Knesset podium to take a swipe at Democratic presidential candidate, Barak Obama, the only candidate who has openly said he would talk with Iranian and North Korean leaders without preconditions. “Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along,” Bush said. “We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.”

Of course, Bush was targeting not only Iran but Hamas in the Gaza Strip, for which the United States and Israel have retained a permanent spot on their terrorist list. While Obama lashed out at Bush’s speech, saying it was “extraordinary politicization of foreign policy”, he reiterated his rejection of negotiating with Hamas, saying they had to first recognize Israel’s right to exist.

At the same time President Bush was addressing the Knesset, Palestinians were commemorating Al Nakba, the Catastrophe that befell the Palestinians in 1948. Rallies, demonstrations and protests were held in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, inside Israel and in various countries to remind the world that the refugee problem is still unsolved and that the nation of Israel was created as a result of the expulsion of another.

On May 15, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed his people in a recorded message played to a rally in Ramallah on the occasion. In it, the president insisted on the inalienable right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. He also insisted that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state was the only avenue to peace. “Israel’s security is tied to our independence and our security. Continued occupation, bloodshed and the Nakba will never bring security to anyone,” he said.

To mark the occasion, more than 20,000 black balloons were launched in the West Bank skies to commemorate every day of the 60 years since the Nakba. A two-minute silence was also observed in honor of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who lost their homes.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni did not appreciate the sentiments, however. On May 15, the chief Israeli negotiator said the Palestinians would only be able to celebrate their independence day on the same day that the word "Nakba" is erased from their lexicon.”

Israel also had a bone to pick with the UN. On May 16, the Israeli mission to the UN protested the use of the word “Nakba” in an official communiqué released by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s office. Dan Camron, Israel’s deputy ambassador to the UN demanded clarifications for the use of the word saying, “The term "'Nakba' is a tool of Arab propaganda used to undermine the legitimacy of the establishment of the State of Israel, and it must not be part of the lexicon of the UN."

On the ground, Palestinians are more wary then ever that an agreement can be reached by the end of 2008, especially following President Bush’s Knesset address earlier. On May 17, President Abbas is to meet the US President in the Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm Al Sheikh, ostensibly to discuss ways to forward this goal of a mutual agreement. A day later Bush is to meet with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. According to chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Ereket, Abbas is planning to urge Bush into accepting the premise that any Palestinian state must be established on the land occupied in 1967 with east Jerusalem as its capital.

This seems like an overly ambitious goal given Israel’s positions so far. On May 12, Israeli officials including Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman in Jerusalem to iron out the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Apparently, the Olmert-Suleiman meeting only lasted 90 minutes with Israel sending a clear message back to Hamas through their Egyptian mediator. Israel will not agree to any ceasefire agreement with Hamas until captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is released and arms smuggling from Egypt is halted.

A day earlier on May 11, Olmert was apparently preparing his people for a probable military invasion into the Gaza Strip. He said Israel would use force against Hamas if rockets did not stop, saying either Hamas ensures that quiet prevail in Gaza or Israel would use force to restore it themselves.

Olmert reiterated his threat on May 14 to President Bush, telling him a wide-scale ground invasion was imminent in the Gaza Strip if the rockets into Israel were not halted.

While a major military operation has yet to be executed, Israel has maintained a steady presence in the Strip over the week, wreaking havoc in a number of areas. On May 13, Israeli tanks rolled into Khan Younis, leveling 500 dunams of land and destroying a number of greenhouses, farmland and olive trees. Israel also beefed up its military presence around the Erez crossing with area residents witnessing ongoing gun and tank fire from surrounding military vehicles and army posts.

Moreover, Israel has continued to cut fuel supplies to Gaza, maintaining a thin trickle only enough to barely sustain the area. On May 10, the main electricity generator in Gaza City was forced to shut down because of a shortage of fuel, leaving 800,000 people in the dark.

Egypt opened the Rafah Crossing on May 10 for three consecutive days to allow emergency humanitarian cases to pass into its territory along with sick Palestinians and stranded Egyptians on the Palestinian side of the border. According to Gazan officials, 550 ill patients were allowed entry into Egypt.

On May 13, Ehud Olmert announced that Palestinians and Israelis had made “real progress” in negotiations and had reached understanding and arrangements on a number of important issues, while not divulging the details of these issues. He added that the biggest challenge facing Israel is defining its permanent borders as a part of a peace agreement with its neighbors. Olmert made his comments during the “Facing Tomorrow” conference held by Israel as part of its independence celebrations.

President Bush projected similar optimism in an interview with Haaretz on May 13. He said he still believed an agreement was possible by the end of 2008 despite President Abbas’ political weakness and Olmert’s pending corruption investigation.

Still, Israel is continuing with its settlement expansion policies despite international condemnation of this policy and obligations under the roadmap that it would freeze all settlement activity. On May 14, Israel announced it would approve plans for the construction of 600 new housing units in the Jerusalem settlement of Betar Elite, which falls west of Bethlehem.

Quartet Committee representative Tony Blair was also in the country this week, announcing a package of Israeli measures to ease Palestinian life. On May 13, Blair announced in Jerusalem that Israel agreed to dismantle a handful of checkpoints including the “canteen” checkpoint near Bethlehem and Kefasim checkpoint south of Hebron.

Blair also referred to the expected deployment of Palestinian security troops in the northern West Bank in and around Jenin. In an interview with Israel’s Jerusalem Post on May 16, Blair said the responsibility now rested on Palestinian security forces. “"If the Israelis cannot see any prospect of the Palestinians achieving proper governing capability, particularly in the area of security, then it becomes not credible for them to believe that they can accept a Palestinian state,” he said. The troops are currently being trained in Jordan and will be deployed in Jenin and other West Bank areas by the end of the summer.