Israel thinks now no peace can be reached with Palestine

Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz launched a blistering attack on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, calling him "a one-man show" beneft of support from his own people and saying he sees little chance that a permanent peace deal can be reached between the sides in the present generation.

In an interview published Friday in Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, Mofaz said he had complained to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at a meeting in Cairo Wednesday at Abbas' lack of leadership and Israel's increasing frustration with him.

"I'm not at all sure that we can ever reach a peace agreement with the present Palestinian leadership," Mofaz told the paper. "We shall have to wait for the next generation." He went on to say that for the time being the best that could be expected was another round of interim agreements between the sides rather than any final peace agreement.

T.E.