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<p class="printer_headline">Polls: Drop in support for Olmert</p><hr size="1"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td><span class="byline">Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST </span>
</td><td align="right"><span class="byline">Aug. 11, 2006</span></td></tr></tbody></table><hr size="1"><p>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.
</p><p>The army's failure to end incessant attacks is likely one reason for the drop in the government's popularity figures.
</p><p>A poll in the <i>Yediot Aharonot</i> 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%.
</p><p>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.
</p><p>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.
</p><p>The Dahaf survey showed Olmert's personal approval rating fell to 66% from 73%.
</p><p>Another poll of 570 Israelis, conducted by Dialogue for the <i>Haaretz</i>
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%.
</p><p>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. <i>Haaretz</i>
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.
</p><p>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.
</p><p>"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.</p><br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 8/11/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Imad Jabbour</b> <<a href="mailto:ijabbour@mit.edu">ijabbour@mit.edu</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<div>(Haaretz)</div>
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<div><strong>Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office</strong></div></td></tr>
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<td colspan="2" valign="top">By <a href="mailto:ashavit@haaretz.co.il" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">Ari Shavit</a></td></tr>
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<p lang="en"><span>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.
<br><br>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.
<br><br>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.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><span>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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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Michel Rbeiz<br>============================<br>Mail: PO Box 723, Allston, MA 02134<br>Phone: 617.230.8116(c), 617.253.6018(w)<br>Email: <a href="mailto:mrbeiz@alum.mit.edu">mrbeiz@alum.mit.edu
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