Amona: Ehud’s Bully Pulpit?
This blog is not meant to be All Bash Olmert, Kadima, All the Time. But one must remember that Olmert was almost more zealous [as Sharon’s Trial Balloon Man], than was Sharon himself regarding the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif. Further, the facts seem to bear out that Olmert’s weakness and insecurity as a leader brought him to egg confrontations, first with the Nefesh b’Nefesh people as they arrived in Israel last August, on the first day of the expulsion, and now in egging on a confrontation, with massive police brutality and much Jewish bloodshed in Amona. Below, two of the most prominent and honest journalists in Israel voice their views on Olmert and Kadima, and why their defeat is, as Caroline Glick puts it, “A National Imperative.” MB
Another Tack: A Splendid Little War, Sarah Honig
Excerpts;
“When Ehud Olmert summarily rejected all notions of compromise and insisted on the cavalry charge up Amona Hill, he intuitively, if unknowingly, emulated good old Teddy Roosevelt’s grandstanding at Cuba’s then equally obscure San Juan Hill. Without “Rough Rider” glory, Teddy would have never become president.”
“Sporting a dashing sombrero and blue polka-dot neckerchief, Teddy dubbed the 1898 assault ‘a splendid little war,’ which for him it undoubtedly was. ‘The charge itself was great fun,'[ he boasted, ‘oh, but we had a bully fight!'”
“It undeniably became the pivotal point in Teddy’s political career, propelling him to the governorship of New York and thence to the vice-presidential slot on McKinley’s second successful ticket. When McKinley was subsequently assassinated, the hero of San Juan Hill was catapulted to the highest executive office in the land.”
“The sequence of events was somewhat different in Ehud’s case. His sleazy rise to power from the Likud’s 34th slot makes Teddy look as guileless as his namesake cuddly stuffed bear. No voter in 2003 ever considered Olmert prime-ministerial material and Olmert thought nothing of betraying the very platform on which he barely made it to the Knesset at all.”
A Bold-Faced Liar: “Likud and Labor Called Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Just That …”
Column One: Where Olmert Leads, Israel Mustn’t Follow
Excerpts;
“Israel’s public debate is known for its ferocity and general nastiness, but very rarely is the prime minister called a bold-faced liar. The fact that both the Likud and Labor called Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just that after he gave his first televised interview as acting premier Tuesday night is therefore significant.”
“In that interview, as during the tour he conducted earlier that day along the route of the security fence around Jerusalem, Olmert pledged that if he forms the next government, he will establish Israel’s permanent borders. Olmert said those borders will maintain Ma’aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion under Israeli sovereignty. A unified Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley will also remain under Israeli control, he promised.”
“Unfortunately, when Olmert’s statements from Tuesday are compared to his actions on the ground, it becomes clear that the Likud’s and Labor’s invectives were accurate. On the ground, the government’s policies are cutting both Gush Etzion and Ma’aleh Adumim off from Jerusalem and bringing about the partition of Jerusalem. As well, there is no evidence that the government is working to preserve Israeli control over the Jordan Valley – to the contrary.“
“Additionally, the Olmert government has failed completely to bring about the Palestinians’ isolation in the wake of Hamas’s electoral victory. It is not only that the government transferred tax revenues to the PA or that Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Hamas leaders for an official visit to Moscow. The government’s incompetence in dealing with the Hamas challenge was made abundantly clear by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s remarks at her joint press conference with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday.“
“Tuesday Olmert was expected to make a final decision regarding the route of the security fence around the Palestinian village Jaba, which is located next to Gush Etzion. The planned route places Jaba outside the fence. To keep Jaba out of the fence’s boundaries, it will be necessary to move Highway 367, which connects Gush Etzion to the center of the country, from its present location south of Jaba, to a new location north of the village. The project, which will cost Israeli taxpayers NIS 100 million, will locate the new road on a narrow ridge directly below Jaba and thus place every vehicle traveling on it within range of terrorist snipers. The new route will be surrounded on all sides by Hamas-controlled villages – so the only link between Gush Etzion and the center of the country will be all but impossible to defend. Gush Etzion residents, as well as the IDF and the Defense Ministry support changing the route of the fence and leaving the highway where it is. Olmert deferred deciding the issue.”
“When Olmert says that he will maintain Gush Etzion, it is not at all clear how he intends to do so. The current route of the security fence excludes its three eastern communities – Nokdim, Tekoa and Karmei Tzur.”
“As well, while last month the government ordered hundreds of IDF troops and policemen to destroy an unauthorized home at Neveh Daniel North, as well as a crate and an antenna on a hill two kilometers north of the small settlement, it refuses to enforce its own orders calling for the demolition of hundreds of illegal Palestinian structures.“
“Hundreds of such illegal structures have been built along Highway 60, which connects Gush Etzion to Jerusalem. The Palestinians have also seized thousands of dunams of state lands all around Gush Etzion. In both cases, the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria has issued orders to destroy the structures and take back the lands, but it has not moved to implement any of those orders.”
“…Even more disturbingly, according to knowledgeable, well-placed sources, senior members of Olmert’s Kadima Party have been conducting discussions for over a year with Palestinian officials regarding the partition of Jerusalem. According to these sources, the two sides have agreed that all Arab neighborhoods in the capital will be transferred to Palestinian control.”
“As to the Jordan Valley, while Kadima’s platform makes no pledge to preserve Israeli control over the area, Tuesday Olmert promised to maintain “control of Israel’s eastern border.” As we learned in Israel’s capitulation regarding the Philadepli Corridor and the Rafah Terminal that connect Gaza to Egypt, in the wake of the withdrawal from Gaza, there is no reason to believe that Olmert is serious…“
“Olmert’s current policies indicate that if he forms the next government, he and his cohorts in Kadima will lead Israel into a national and military abyss. The fact that he is basing his campaign on denying his actual policies is more than sufficient reason for Israeli voters to look elsewhere for their next prime minister. The fact that his actual policies endanger the long-term survival of Israel makes defeating Olmert and Kadima a national imperative.“
Yes, he’s a dangerous man. We have a lot of work to do.