Olmert and Lebanon
Now that the gag order is off of the alleged bribery case against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, I wanted to weigh in on the topic. I have no idea whether Olmert is guilty or innocent in this case. That is for the police and the attorney general to figure out. What interests me is whether our interests as Israeli citizen are being or can be protected by Olmert and that answer is categorically NO.
Olmert is under investigation for the 5th time during his 5 years in office. His finance minister and old colleague resigned and was recently indicted on embezzlement. Remarkably, in this country of unstable politics, his coalition has hung together (the alternatives are all worse for them). This is a colossal distraction. Olmert should be the busiest and most focused man in the country but instead he is distracted by endless investigations. And this one is more serious as it pits him against his long time partner and attorney Uri Messer.
Today, Shimon Peres described the HIzbullah coup in Lebanon as internal Lebanese business. I wish. That is another Iran on our doorstep now, in addition to the sabre rattler in Damascus and the nuclear lunatic in Teheran. Peres is wrong. It is our problem but the bigger problem is our CEO/Prime Minister cannot possibly deal with this now as he is completely distracted. For this reason, Olmert needs to resign. We need a full time Prime Minister at the helm to deal with Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the terrorists in Gaza. We need a full time prime minister to deal with a collapsing Global economy. The conservative in me things it is sometimes better to have politicians whose hands are tied and not distracted. They do less harm that way. But not now. We need someone who is not distracted and now.
Olmert is under investigation for the 5th time during his 5 years in office. His finance minister and old colleague resigned and was recently indicted on embezzlement. Remarkably, in this country of unstable politics, his coalition has hung together (the alternatives are all worse for them). This is a colossal distraction. Olmert should be the busiest and most focused man in the country but instead he is distracted by endless investigations. And this one is more serious as it pits him against his long time partner and attorney Uri Messer.
Today, Shimon Peres described the HIzbullah coup in Lebanon as internal Lebanese business. I wish. That is another Iran on our doorstep now, in addition to the sabre rattler in Damascus and the nuclear lunatic in Teheran. Peres is wrong. It is our problem but the bigger problem is our CEO/Prime Minister cannot possibly deal with this now as he is completely distracted. For this reason, Olmert needs to resign. We need a full time Prime Minister at the helm to deal with Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the terrorists in Gaza. We need a full time prime minister to deal with a collapsing Global economy. The conservative in me things it is sometimes better to have politicians whose hands are tied and not distracted. They do less harm that way. But not now. We need someone who is not distracted and now.
posted by Michael Eisenberg at 3:36 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Michael,
Do you consider Hizbullah taking over Lebannon a positive development for Israel or a negative one?
Because, we have been bordering with a Hizbuulah-Iranian controlled state for quite some time now. The fact that they take power over there can actually make it easier for us to deal with them - both on the diplomatic and the military levels.
It means that there won't be 2 different entities in Lebannon, where one can target rockets at Israel and the other can say "It's not us, It's Hizbullah - we have nothing to do with it..."
I am not sure whether it is positive or negative although my instinct is that when terrorists control territory and transport lines, it is never good (especially when the transport lines lead straight to Syria and Iran by land).
The more important issue for me is whether we have a team with the time, focus and attention to deal with it. And that keeps me up at night.
Since I began watching Israeli politics in the mid-90's, I found that EVERY Israeli prime minister (and most of the cabinet) is under continuous investigation from the moment he appears as a viable candidate for the job until the moment he leaves office. As soon as Olmert leaves, charges will likely be dropped. If Livni, or whoever, takes over, expect investigations against them within 24 hours.
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