Olmert - Public on tenterhooks
Photo: AP
Olmert to make dramatic announcement this evening
PM to address public live at 8 pm Wednesday, summons press to his office. Earlier Olmert slammed Israeli public's propensity to 'grumble,' said State cannot handle Iranian threat while juggling all education, welfare, housing needs
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will make a dramatic announcement to the public on Wednesday at 8 pm. Hee summoned reporters to his residence, and the address will be made from there.
The prime minister became enraged with the actions of the coalition and the Labor Party earlier in the day, and has previously threatened to dismiss ministers who vote against the government's directives, but it is unclear whether his announcement will pertain to this matter.
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Earlier Wednesday Olmert spoke out against Israeli's tendency towards grumbling. "From a nation of yea-sayers we have become a querulous nation that grumbles about almost everything."
Olmert was speaking at a Round Table Israel convention, held at the Knesset. Other participants in the convention included government, civil, and business representatives.
The prime minister spoke of the need for prioritization in a state with limited resources. "I want to define realistic expectations. We are neither the richest state in the world nor the easiest state in which to live," said Olmert. He called for the definition of "the State's functions, what it does, and what it must do."
In reference to the Dorner Report, dealing with the state of the Holocaust survivors in Israel he said, "The Dorner report was submitted to us less than a month ago. We discussed it yesterday… the ministries held discussions on the subject, and yesterday we discussed alternatives that could supply the Dorner Report with the correct support."
He added that "it must be understood that there are certain things the State cannot do. The State cannot fight against the Iranian threat while concerning itself with Jewish education in Russia and the former Soviet Union, and in addition supplying welfare, education, and housing with all of their needs."
Olmert covertly criticized the claims of the Gush Katif evacuees, following the Knesset's resolution to instate an investigation committee in order to inspect the failures in handling their cases.
"When the State makes difficult decisions such as the evacuation of settlements, it needs to support the third and fourth generations because the territory was larger there, as opposed to here, where it is narrower. They want their descendents living near them, but the line must be drawn somewhere."
