Pressure Increases on Israel’s Olmert to Resign

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has promised to stay on as leader of the nation despite a recent report that castigates him for the botched war against Hezbollah in Lebanon last year. He said right before an emergency cabinet meeting earlier today, “To all those who are in haste in order to take advantage of the report for political profit, I tell them not to be hasty.” Mr. Olmert should make haste. A good rule for democratic politicians is to resign if they lose a war of choice.

Earlier this week, retired judge Eliahu Winograd held a news conference at which he presented the findings of the investigation he led. In short, the war aims of crushing Hezbollah and forcing it to return two captured Israeli soldiers were “overly ambitious and impossible to achieve,” and the PM suffered a “serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence.” Mr. Winograd added, “The responsibility is on the prime minister, the defense minister and chief of staff.”

What is worse is the interim nature of the report. These findings only cover the preparation for the war, and the Winograd commission is charged with investigating the whole shooting match. Things are not going to get better for the government. Having failed in its war aims, there is no way further revelations will improve the picture.

David Horowitz, editor of the Jerusalem Post newspaper, told the BBC, “As a critique of the prime minister it is extremely harsh. He made hasty decisions, he didn’t consult, he didn’t set clear goals, the goals weren’t feasible, he didn’t adjust -- and overall it was a very grave failure.” One might be forgiven for thinking Mr. Olmert came from Crawford, Texas.

However, if he goes, Israel will need a new prime minister, and the governing coalition isn’t exactly covered in glory. This almost certainly means new elections, and judging from the opinion polls, the incoming coalition is likely to look a great deal like the outgoing coalition. This could be why Mr. Olmert isn’t giving up office – no one else seems to be up to the job either.

© Copyright 2007 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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