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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
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Olmert’s birthday wishes

What did PM wish as he blew out the candles? Peace with Palestinians is one possiblity

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert celebrated his 62nd birthday on Sunday night. We don’t know what he wished for when he blew out the candles: His supporters assume that he wished for peace with the Palestinians. His critics will say that he wished to be acquitted from the criminal investigations he is facing over the privatization of Bank Leumi and the acquisition of the home in Jerusalem. Maybe he wished for Winograd to clear him of any Lebanon War wrongdoings.

 

The diplomatic process, which will continue Wednesday in a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, cannot be separated from the prime minister’s unstable public status. Olmert’s rivals, particularly senior Likud figures and the far Right, went back to using the expressions used against Ariel Sharon, such as: “The depth of the investigation determines the depth of withdrawal.”

 

According to senior Likud figures and right-wing party members we spoke to, Olmert would be willing to offer painful concessions in order to evade justice, the state comptroller, and Winograd. As evidence, they use Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon’s plan to divide Jerusalem, for example.

 

If this was only about members of the opposition, we would say such is life. Yet when the prime minister hosts the Palestinian president this week, he will also feel those of little faith from his own coalition breathing down his neck. For example Avigdor Lieberman, who views Mahmoud Abbas as useless. The same is true of Ehud Barak, who referred to these talks as hot air. And if that’s not enough, Olmert will arrive at the talks this week when even Kadima ministers are trying to hinder him.

 

For example, Shaul Mofaz, who 11 days ago said: “To all those who are rushing to advance, I propose to learn from past experience and see how the mad rushes to final-status agreements ended. Jerusalem isn’t real estate…it would be a strategic mistake to give up any asset today without knowing for sure that the Palestinian side would live up to its obligations…an attempt to reach a final-status agreement with an entity unable to enforce its authority on its own citizens is like running before learning how to walk. It’s a move doomed for failure.”

 

‘Will war be the essence of our life forever?’

 

When Olmert is looking for the diplomatic road from the driver’s seat, he sees Haim Ramon pulling him to the left and accelerating the diplomatic process while hiking the price. We already mentioned his plan to divide Jerusalem. Olmert is anxious about following his close associate, who up until recently he characterized as the one slated to lead the diplomatic process. Olmert is well aware of the complete mistrust in Ramon on the part of “rightist” government ministers such as Mofaz, and even Tzipi Livni, Barak, and Rafi Eitan. This comes on top of the bitterness towards Olmert on the part of the Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu ministers.

 

Barak and Livni, by the way, who are members of the upscale new kitchen cabinet, are preventing Ramon from becoming a part of the team that would determine the content of the joint declaration to be made in Annapolis in a month and a half.

 

In order to avoid clashes that would make his coalition crumble, Olmert lowers the price he is willing to pay on the occasion of the US conference. All he seeks right now is a joint declaration of intent. This document will indeed open a new horizon for a Palestinian state, but it will prevent the Land of Israel and Jerusalem faithful from creating a domestic front against the prime minister. Meanwhile, Abbas’ statements in interviews in New York this week regarding his desire to see a final-status draft agreement within six months are not on the table at this time.

 

“First, let them build government institutions and take care of terror on their own,” officials in Jerusalem said. “They should take responsibility for what’s going on in their towns, and then we’ll see.”

 

And what does Olmert himself say? As he refrains from granting interviews these days, we examined his words in a speech at the Kadima office a week and a half ago: “I believe that a freeze is akin to regression, and that delay paves the way for radical elements to boost their influence on the Palestinian street. I’m convinced that if we evade a serious…uncompromising attempt…to build bridges…with a Palestinian leadership that is fighting Hamas and declaring its willingness to make true peace with Israel, we shall find ourselves facing a united Hamas and Islamic Jihad front across the entire territories…will war be the essence of our life forever?” asked the prime minister, who despite his caution and fears, and perhaps because of them, continues to espouse peace with Mahmoud Abbas, a partner who for the time being has not delivered the goods.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.01.07, 22:02
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