One of those “Brooklyn-born Jews” that some British writers love to hate has just told Ehud Olmert, well, the same things I’ve been writing for quite some time: That Olmert is a major screwup and Israel needs better leadership.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is a failure and should resign, New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind says in full-page ads published this weekend in Jewish newspapers throughout the United States and set to appear, too, in mainstream US papers and in the Israeli press.
“Ehud Olmert is weak when he should be strong, demonstrating ineptitude and incompetence in the face of growing threats from Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran and Syria,” the ad says. It says Olmert should resign, “for the sake of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Hikind, an Orthodox Jew who represents Brooklyn’s largely ultra-Orthodox Boro Park neighborhood, has long been an outspoken advocate of right-wing policies.
The ad campaign was an attempt to encourage debate, he told The Jerusalem Post. He said the issue was not whether to give up land, but what to do with an indecisive prime minister.
“When talking about the situation which is unfolding, one must come to the conclusion that it is disastrous,” Hikind told the Post. “We’re talking about indecisiveness, and that’s dangerous.”
I’d say something, but, well, Dov has pretty much said it all. The thing is, I don’t believe Israel has much of a choice as successor. Bibi Netanyahu is barely acceptable. And I can’t see anyone else rising to take over in what will possibly be Israel’s most trying times since 1948.
But I have to say, I like Dov’s nerve. Ads in Israeli and American papers. Wow.
I guess the next Prim Minister of Israel has to be the Mashiach. Noone else is available and he is supposed to come when all appears to be lost.
I don’t know what your problems are with Netanyahu, but he seems to me like he would be a good wartime prime minister, like Churchill. Of course, in a recent post you didn’t seem to like Churchill much, either. But the point is to win the war, not a popularity contest.
You also don’t seem to think much of Bush & Co., but the fact is that while making happy talk (the best kind of stalling tactic, as it doesn’t give the enemy anything to shoot at really), they gave Olmert enough time to do the job in Lebanon–if he hadn’t wasted it waffling his way to giving Hamas a political victory, that is. It is that kind of missed opportunity that highlights Olmert’s true unsuitability to occupy the position he does at this point in history.
HT, I don’t believe I said anything about Churchill in a recent post. There are several co-bloggers here. Check the byline.
Meryl, my apologies. I was just going by memory…I remember the comment quite clearly, but not the byline. But if you like Churchill (or at least don’t not like him), so much the better!
On the other hand, I also wrote Hamas when I meant Hezbollah, so at least I’m consistent in my confusion.
A currently serving American public official calls for the resignation of the head of government of a friendly but independent nation? Does anybody but me sense some impropriety there? That’s a bit like Red Ken Livingstone, Lord Mayor of London, calling for Nancy Pelosi’s resignation on the grounds that she is not socialist enough or satisfactorily pro-Arab, except that Hikind is a lot more obscure and at a lower political level than Red Ken is. Granted that Hikind is more sensible than Red Ken by light years, it still seems improper.
Dov Hikind is a Jew and an elected official, so his opinion is appropriate. That doesn’t mean he’s right, just connected enough to raise the money for all this propaganda.
Now that we know what he’s against, what is he for? Anybody can complain. Who does he support instead, what policies would he like to see, and how does he propose to make them work?
The current situation is complex. Israel has a vital and turbulent society with many ambitious leaders. How many of them REALLY want Ehud Olmert’s job RGHT NOW?
Obviously HT you were not in Israel during the two years that Netanyahu served as Prime Minister during the terrorist war which only went from bad to worse until the Israelis managed to get Sharon to lead.
Sounds like a dirty joke making someone only fit to anchor CBS evening news a “wartime prime minister”.
If the Israelis are willing to gamble on something, maybe, just maybe, they can on Netanyahu having learned something during the intervening years.
While I sympathize with Mr. Hikind, if he truly wants his ads to be taken seriously- he should make Aliyah and run for office himself!
You know, Mazeartist, I can’t argue with that.
Good point.
Meryl – I can. If Israel wants support, they can accept criticism too. They don’t have to heed it, but I bet they cash the checks of American Jews, don’t they?
It would be very good news if Israel would reform its economy to the point of self-sufficiency; I wish they would. But even if they did, criticism from friends should be welcome – after all it’s not as if your enemies will shut up.