Olmert speaks out

Olmert, why don’t you resign? – That question, in many varied forms, was by far the most common question sent in by readers for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Passover interview with Ynet.

I understand that I’m compared to Sharon; that is natural, human. People were used to a different prime minister. Arik was prime minister much longer than most of his predecessors, Rabin, Peres, Bibi (Netanyahu), and Barak.

That’s why a certain way of acting became fixed in the public conscious. Suddenly, someone comes along and acts differently, I talk differently. It’s a question of style - when Bibi would attack him, Arik wouldn’t pay him any attention.

He would talk about ‘that thing’. When Bibi attacks me, and I’m not talking about a legitimate debate, but when he attacks me personally, I get back at him sometimes. I don’t have a problem with it.

I'm not a person who butts heads with others, but I'm not a person who receives a slap or is spit on and says that it's rain. When it's time for a punch, I throw a punch. I'm not a nerd or a wimp. I'm a fighter

And yet, people expect a prime minister to maintain level-headedness…

That could be. I don’t do it as something routine. It happens here and there, once in three months, and then they say, ‘Oh, there’s Olmert’. Sorry, let’s not exaggerate.

There is an inappropriate phenomenon, for example, that none of you will ever write about, that occurs at the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

The prime minister comes in, takes his seat, and speaks … Bibi Netanyahu always arrives in the middle of the meeting, doesn’t listen to what I say, doesn’t listen to others, asks for the floor as head of the opposition, is granted it, throws around a few coarse words or declarations, and leaves.

He isn’t interested in listening, he isn’t interested in it. It’s all done disrespectfully. There are several new members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee who have said to me, ‘Listen, we are shocked time and again by this total lack of civility.'

You refuse to acknowledge your personal failure in any category. We read your interviews in the weekend press, and we didn't hear a word about an admission of failure or a request for forgiveness.

During Yom Kippur, an individual asks for forgiveness from the Creator. Before elections, he assesses his past actions, both achievements and failures. The fact that this is Passover and we're conducting an interview doesn't mean that we should have a historic assessment every few months.

You want to hear me say I made a mistake in Lebanon. If I say I didn't, you'll say I don't admit to my mistakes. What can I do about it? I don't think we made a mistake in Lebanon. I stand behind the Israeli decisions regarding Lebanon.

You don't even regret appoint Amir Peretz to the post of Defense Minister?

I'm not sorry. Never, in the entire history of Israel, has a prime minister decided the make-up of all the senior ministers within his coalition. I offered him the position of welfare minister.

He wanted the Finance Ministry.

Okay, he wanted it. I didn't want to give it to him.

Is Amir Peretz harming national security?

Definitely not. I think there have been people of higher rank, with more experience, who did more damage. I think that whoever said that Hizbullah rusted, who told IDF generals asking for armored vehicles along the border with Lebanon that they should use buses - that man did more damage.

Do you mean Shaul Mofaz?

It's not important. It's what IDF generals told me when I discussed the issue with them. So, it caused more damage.

Is this what you told the Winograd Commission about Amir Peretz?

I don't want to get into what I told the Winograd Commission, because I oppose publication of the testimonies. If they would publish only my testimony, I'd be glad…No one can suspect anything other than that I would like my testimony published. But I think that a comprehensive decision to publish all the testimonies is grossly irresponsible.

With all due respect to the Supreme Court, I think they were wrong in this case. It's a mistake that needs to be addressed. It will be the end of investigative commissions; no one will agree to come testify.

There are sensitive issues. If, for example, X knew he would be quoted in public, he would not have spoken...because his words were an opinion or an impression.

You wouldn't say one thing about Peretz to us and another Winograd….

I answered your question about whether he did harm – he did not harm. I can say more than this: Gentlemen, in this war, there were mistakes. There's no doubt there were mistakes. I am more familiar with them than you are…None of these mistakes was caused by a decision of Amir Peretz.

Gentleman, we were in the army. They spoke there of mistakes in judgment, about putting forces here or there. What does Amir Peretz have to do with that? Does he need to the specific point at which the forces will enter?

There's no doubt that, on a certain level, we’re not being judged today on the actual results of the war. We're not being judged on the objective reality in southern Lebanon. The long-term reality is much better.

We're being judged by some general discrepancy between what happened (last summer) and what the average Israeli expects from us, from the army, from our troops. These discrepancies create frustration, whose source is not my decisions or the actions of the government, but rather things that happened in the past, or during the war itself.

Questions from Ynet talkbackers:

I don't believe that someone needs to be a military man in order to be prime minister. I think that it's a hindrance, not an asset. I think that whoever leads the army needs to be an army man. In the United States, the Defense Minister cannot be a former general or admiral. He can be a mere citizen…

During meetings with military personnel, I understood why it's preferable to have a civilian prime minister, as well as a civilian defense minister.

From my first day in office, people have been trying to stick that description to me in every possible way. The result is discomfort from the abundance of stories. But what are we talking about? Three people that I appointed or didn't appoint to the Small Business Authority?

I'm 61, active for 40 years...Why does it seem inappropriate for me to have bought and sold three apartments in my lifetime? Does it require an investigation? Where are we living?

However, the prices of these apartments - in the millions - draw the public's attention.

What are these prices? There are hundreds, thousands of people who buy apartments for much more than I did. I'm 61, not untalented, worked for 15 years as a lawyer, made some money and was able to buy an apartment. Is this corruption? Is this what they investigate?

They were able to investigate all the problems of the Israeli homefront in seven months, while the sale of my apartment has been under investigation for more than a year. I ask you, does this seem reasonable to you?

David Nachum asks: How do you deal with the fact that there's a kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, an hour from Tel Aviv? Can you look into the eyes of a soldier enlisting today and tell him that Israel will make every effort to bring him home if kidnapped?

There was a soldier who was kidnapped twenty years ago (Ron Arad) and all of Israel's elite tried to retrieve him. But no one asked them if they could look into the eyes of a new recruit. We've lost our sense of proportion.

The time that has passed since (Gilad's) kidnap is shorter than has taken us in the past to retrieve a soldier kidnapped by Palestinians. We're dealing with murderers. People with no limits. It's not a situation in which you press on a button and get a solution. It's also not a situation in which Israel needs to surrender and release thousands of prisoners, as is being demanded of us.

That's why we need to exhibit patience and perseverance. Those who accuse me of negligence will certainly grant that I have an interest in advancing the release of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser. Israel is doing everything it can - all that it is correct to do and not what is incorrect to do - in order to release the captive soldiers. Even if it's not very popular.

Reporters can't wait to find underground tremors and convince themselves that there is tension between a prime minister and other ministers. The facts on the ground are that I don't know. I don't feel such tension and I'm not an inexperienced person.

Certainly, party members don't like that we've dropped in the polls. But there's no tension. You hear that only from the press.

Yedioth Aharonot reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad asked the Saudi king to join the Arab peace initiative. Given the roadblock with the Palestinians, do we need to examine the possibility that our opportunity lies in Damascus?

I am convinced that under the surface – and I'm not referring to covert talks – there's some sort of process…The last war created fluctuations, a new situational reading, new insights into what is needed. I would suggest examining what, in my opinion, is going on with the modern Arab nations.

It's very possible that they were wrong all these years in thinking of Israel as a target that must be eliminated. They now have to deal with Islamic fundamentalism, which endangers their governments and their nations far more that any threat Israel may constitute. Iran scares them.

They suddenly look at the region and see Israel in a new context, which was not seen in the past. It creates an opportunities and we are attempting to nurture such opportunities.

In the past 12 years, we attempted to negotiate with Syria three times: With (former prime ministers Yitzhak) Rabin, (Ehud) Barak and (Benjamin Netanyahu). Three times this failed. Everyone was ready to give up the Golan Heights – and it failed.

The problem is not just the concessions demanded of Israel, but also the concessions made to Israel. How do we know that approaching a Syrian adventure will lead anywhere?

Would you be willing to go to Syria and meet with Assad?

If he invites me, you'll hear my answer.