The Metamorphosis of Ehud Olmert
Excerpts;
“The change in Olmert began to surface shortly before he left his position of mayor of Jerusalem in late 2002, when he was running again for the Knesset. At the time, it was discovered that the Palestinian Authority schoolbooks – containing a curriculum that inculcates Palestinian schoolchildren with the conviction that Israel has no right to exist (see www.edume.org) – had been incorporated into the Jerusalem municipal school system.”
“I asked Olmert about it at a small press conference for the foreign media. His comment: “They can teach what they want, and we will teach what we want.” He raised no objection to anti-Semitic teaching in the sovereign school system of the state of Israel.”
“Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations last February, Olmert explained his sudden support for Sharon’s plan as based on what he learned from Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon. Pounding his fist on the podium, Olmert declared that there had been no attacks from Lebanon since Israel pulled its troops out of Lebanon.”
“As a father of a young combat soldier who was on active duty on Israel’s northern border between 2001 and 2004, Olmert’s statement surprised me. There were times when my son reported three to five attacks a day on the northern frontier.”
“I dispatched my assistant to show Olmert the IDF reports, which documented hundreds of attacks from Lebanon since Israel’s withdrawal, with 28 people killed as a result of these attacks. Olmert brushed aside the report and repeated his statement that there had been no attacks from the northern border since Israel’s withdrawal.”
“Either Olmert doesn’t make shiv’a calls or he assumes that no one knows that Israel has been under constant attack since its pullout from Lebanon.”
Excerpts;
“The Israeli public, even more than Americans back then, is looking to vote for the leader who most resembles his predecessor, whom they would vote for if they could. Olmert, as Sharon’s legal and ideological deputy and the inheritor of his new party, is clearly best positioned to assume this role.”
“But then there is the question of those shoes. Olmert still has to show that he is up to filling them. For this, he must above all display two seemingly contradictory characteristics: strength and humility.”
“Sharon’s power stemmed from the public’s trust that he was a security hawk who would keep them safe while at the same time making dramatic and creative moves to improve Israel’s strategic position, even if those moves involved painful concessions. Even though Olmert comes from a right-wing background, the public does not sense that he feels their security needs in his bones. On the contrary: He is perceived as being on Sharon’s left flank. Previously he had burned his bridges in the Likud when, as mayor of Jerusalem, he gave Ehud Barak his stamp of approval.”
“Accordingly, Olmert’s first challenge is not to show that he represents Sharon’s new disengagement paradigm, but that he does not represent disengagement on steroids. At the same time, he cannot come out swinging with bold moves, as if the public had already chosen him as prime minister. He has to strike a delicate balance between being Sharon’s successor and his own man.”
“And because politicians are known for their immense egos, Olmert should show that he has the humility to recognize that he did not achieve his position solely through his own merit, but through the misfortune that befell his mentor.”
It is suspected that humility and negation of ego is going to be a very big problem! MB
The Likud Knesset List [First 18 Slots]
The Ethos of National Security
Excerpts;
“Since Ariel Sharon coined the term “disengagement,” opponents of Israeli territorial withdrawals have complained about the Orwellian nature of the term. And yet, as hard as opponents of the leftist view that Israel’s security is enhanced by Israeli land transfers to Palestinian terrorists fought against the withdrawal policy and pointed out its dangers, their warnings were no match for the concept of ‘disengagement.’”
“In Israel’s geographic, ethnic, and military contexts, the term ‘disengagement’ is first and foremost a psychological concept. It is concerned not with reality but with the deep-seated Israeli yearning to escape from our hostile environment. It holds the promise that Israel can determine a border that will separate us from our hostile neighbors.”