[LCM Articles] Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office

[Michel Rbeiz]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525852528&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
[image: The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition]

Polls: Drop in support for Olmert
------------------------------
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST Aug. 11, 2006
------------------------------

Israel's government is losing domestic support for its conduct of the
conflict against Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon, and doubt is growing among
Israelis that they are winning the war, according to polls published Friday.


The army's failure to end incessant attacks is likely one reason for the
drop in the government's popularity figures.

A poll in the *Yediot Aharonot* newspaper showed 37 percent of the 500
people questioned believed Israel would cripple Hizbullah, compared with 40%
in a previous survey. 17% thought Israel would lose the war and Hizbullah
would return to south Lebanon, up from 13% previously, said the poll
conducted by the Dahaf organization. It had a margin of error of 4.5%.

The percentage of people supporting a broad ground operation to push
Hizbullah guerrillas beyond the range of short-range rockets fell to 64%
from 73%, the poll said, indicating a growing - though still a minority -
public desire for diplomatic initiatives.

On Wednesday, the Security Cabinet gave Prime Minister Ehud Olmert the
authority to send more troops into south Lebanon. Officials said Israel will
hold off on any new offensive for a few days for diplomatic efforts to play
out at the UN Security Council, where the United States and France were
working on a cease-fire resolution that could come to a vote as early as
Friday.

The Dahaf survey showed Olmert's personal approval rating fell to 66% from
73%.

Another poll of 570 Israelis, conducted by Dialogue for the *Haaretz* daily,
said just one Israeli in five believes that if the war ended now, it could
be considered a victory, while 30% said Israel is losing the war and 44%
said neither side would emerge a winner. The poll's margin of error was 4.8%.


Though the Security Cabinet vote overwhelmingly approved broadening ground
operations - nine in favor with three abstentions - reports indicate that
divisions run deeper in Olmert's inner circle. *Haaretz* reported Olmert
vetoed an appearance at the Security Council by Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni, who has been counseling military restraint and greater attention to
diplomacy.

On Thursday, three of Israel's most successful left-wing authors and
intellectuals - Amos Oz, David Grossman and A.B. Yehoshua - joined together
to urge Olmert to respond positively to an initiative by Lebanese Prime
Minister Fuad Saniora offering to deploy the Lebanese army to southern
Lebanon, aided by an international force, and an exchange of prisoners.

"Israel was right when it chose to respond with force to Hizbullah's violent
provocation," said Oz, an eloquent voice of the Israeli left. But the
Lebanese plan "was not only a turning point, it was a victory for Israel's
basic demand," Oz said. Israel should have told Saniora his plan was a good
basis for negotiation and halted its offensive.


On 8/11/06, Imad Jabbour <ijabbour at mit.edu> wrote:
>
>   (Haaretz)
>
> *Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office*
>   By Ari Shavit <ashavit at haaretz.co.il>
>
> Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and
> unconditional surrender to Hezbollah. That is his privilege. Olmert is a
> prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose
> rule journalists preserved. Now the journalists are saying run away. That's
> legitimate. Unwise, but legitimate.
>
> However, one thing should be clear: If Olmert runs away now from the war
> he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more
> day. Chutzpah has its limits. You cannot lead an entire nation to war
> promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power. You
> cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters
> for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close, and
> then say - oops, I made a mistake. That was not the intention. Pass me a
> cigar, please.
>
> There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to
> war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the
> military without asking the necessary questions. He mistakenly gambled on
> air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to
> implement the army's original plan, much more daring and sophisticated than
> that which was implemented. And after arrogantly and hastily bursting into
> war, Olmert managed it hesitantly, unfocused and limp. He neglected the home
> front and abandoned the residents of the north. He also failed shamefully on
> the diplomatic front.
>
>
> Still, if Olmert had come to his senses as Golda Meir did during the Yom
> Kippur War, if he had become a leader, established a war cabinet and called
> the nation to a supreme effort that would change the face of the battle, a
> penetrating discussion of his failures could be postponed. But in blinking
> first over the past 24 hours, he has become an incorrigible political
> personality. Therefore, the day Nasrallah comes out of his bunker and
> declares victory to the whole world, Olmert must not be in the prime
> minister's office. Post-war battered and bleeding Israel needs a new start
> and a new leader. It needs a real prime minister.
>
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>
>
>


-- 
Michel Rbeiz
============================
Mail: PO Box 723, Allston, MA 02134
Phone: 617.230.8116(c), 617.253.6018(w)
Email: mrbeiz at alum.mit.edu
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