Today is the day that PM Ehud Olmert has dreaded for weeks. Today is the day when he might very well end his political career. The NYT reports:
The selection of a new head of the party, Kadima, was prompted by police investigations of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on allegations that he took money illegally while he was mayor of Jerusalem and industry minister. Mr. Olmert has promised to step down, but is expected to stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a new coalition is formed.
Mr. Olmert is still keen to reach some kind of historic peace agreement with the Palestinians before he finally ends his term.
David Hazony expands on those last two sentences:
Two things make me wonder whether he is really leaving us after all. First, Olmert has continued making bold statements about the peace process, yesterday veering sharply to the Left, warning Israelis that a peace agreement with the Palestinians will require some kind of land exchange, in which Israel gets to keep large settlement blocs in exchange for territory on the pre-1967 side of the border, announcing that Israel would participate in some kind of international plan for the refugees, which really means agreeing to absorb some fairly small number in order to give the Palestinians the ability to say they had “returned†refugees to their 1948 homeland. He also apologized for the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948.
The second is that he yesterday told members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who wished to give him an honorable farewell, that no good-byes are needed, since “I’ll still be here.â€
Hazony suggests that Olmert is planning to stay on as long as he can, if not as Prime Minister then perhaps as a “special envoy” like Tony Blair (only on the Israel stage, not with the same international flavor that Blair’s role has.)
Maybe that’s why Shmuel Rosner doesn’t see much excitement in Israel. Check out his multiple choice quiz.
One more note about the Times article:
Class and ethnicity have entered into the contest, with Jews of Middle Eastern origin, the Sephardim, seeming to favor Mr. Mofaz while those of European origin, the Ashkenazim, who tend to be better off and better educated, preferring Ms. Livni.
The condescension towards Sephardim is pretty blatant isn’t it? Could you imagine a newspaper report in this country:
Blacks support candidate A but whites who tend to be better off and better educated prefer candidate B.
Think about it.
Crossposted on Soccer Dad.
Yes, they tend to look down their nose at Sephardim but I’m not sure I would equate Sephardic/Ashkenazi with Black/White in the U.S. A better analogy would be Southern/Northern.
This Olmert is a nightmare that will have to be physically dragged kicking and screaming from the Prime Minister’s office. If ha potted plant fell from a 5 story window and ended his life I think Israel would not be any poorer. Thank you very much Sharon for giving the people that treacherous piece of dreck!