Is Israel Trying to Provoke a Fight?

One moment Israel is negotiating with Abbas the next they are telling him off:

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas defended his unity deal with Hamas in talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday after U.S. and Israeli threats to shun a coalition government.

Pledging to continue to "probe the diplomatic horizon," Rice traveled to the occupied West Bank to meet the moderate Palestinian leader just hours after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said prospects for peace had dimmed.

The U.S. and Israel are making impossible demands on Abbas which suggests they don't want peace. They are preparing for war.

Need further proof? The continued digging near a Mosque in Jerusalem has lead to condemnation throuhout the Muslim world. The Israeli response has been nothing short of contempt:

Islamic officials intensified calls for Israel to abandon a controversial dig in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying they were upset they had not been told sooner about a discovery of relics at the site three years ago.