sure thing!

This is not about Olmert. Divorce yourself from the writer, and focus on the praise that he gives Shamir. Shamir was an amazing man. May Jews of similar constitution to Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir once more be given opportunity to lead. May these "kings" of our modern world forever be remembered and honored. Give thanks to Olmert, Shimon Peres, and all the rest for saying kind words about this great man. They could have said nothing. I respect them, for what they have said.

Give the man ( Mr .Olmert) a break ,this was a verywell written ,respectful and informative article and I thank Mr .Olmert for writing it.

I think not! (And Mr. Olmert probably knows that too)

in Buenos Aires Argentina was bombed on his watch? Mr. Shamir did absolutely nothing! So Mr. Olmert do save us the trauma of your drama

You gotto be kidding me

when it was known who was responsible... so what is the point of Olmert's vignette

The point of the vignette is to give praise to a great man. What are your posts in #5 and #7 supposed to serve? This is not the article you should be using to denigrate Olmert. This is an oped meant to honor someone. If you have no honor to give [the point of the article], then save your venom for the living who can respond to you, instead of hurling epithets against the passed.

The entire land of Israel would've remained whole. Instead, we got Bibi, Begin, Sharon, Olmert, Barak, all leftists, hopeless, useless, gutless, traitors, g-dless, miserable excuses for Jewish leaders who chipped off from the Jewish land bit by bit and gave it to her enemies.

Shamir, truly a great man. A pity he lost the 1992 election. The loss in 1992, resulted in Oslo and the terrible suffering Oslo caused.

He is both good and evil. Honorable and dishonest. A man has to be measured on his entire contribution to humanity. Yitzhak Shamir was all of these things and none of them at the same time. He did what he thought was best at the time and on the whole he was right far more than he was wrong. The one thing with Yitzhak Shamir was that one knew exactly where he stood at all times. That is the definition of a good man. Rest in peace my friend - you will not soon be forgotten. I wish our current crop of leaders had a fraction of the honor that he displayed every day.

When you look at the gang of useless game show hosts: Netanyahu, Barak, Mofaz, one desperately misses a PM like PM Shamir.

the deceased prime minister were a left winger? I see the point of TBs 5 and 7. I respect TBers 5 & 7 for writing what they think in a respectful fashion. I don't see anything wrong with their opinion. Let us then just imagine what TBers from the right will be writing when Sharon finally passes away.

Mr. Begin was an excellent PM the rest well let's just say their excellence wouldn't touch the soles of Mr. Begin's shoes...understand?

All those right-wing irredentists who blame the left for the Oslo agreement should keep in mind that it was Shamir who scrapped the London document in 1987, which would have enabled Israel to reach a peace agreement with Jordan without even having to relinquish all the West Bank. According to this agreement, King Hussein had accepted the idea of a ''functional compromise'' proposed by Peres, according which the West Bank would be turned into an Israeli-Palestinian ''condominium'' (autonomous entity) administrated by Jordan, but monitored militarly by Israel. Thus, it would have created a new reality on the ground whereby Israel's political border would've been the green line, but Israel's military borders, would have encompassed the entire West Bank and the Gaza strip as well. It's a shame that Shamir has rejected this formula. It would have spared us from two intifadas, and a doomed peace process with the PLO. Still, RIP

Shamir was really a great leader of Israel who was very firm in his beliefs. He didn't need to bomb, but he also didn't capitulate to international pressures and didn't give in to the Arabs. If he had stayed in power, Israel today would be in a much stronger position, for Jews. The second intifada wouldn't have happened and there wouldn't be Hamas run Gaza bombing Israel constantly. We really need Shamir now

Not a financial scandal, not a single violence against his female collegaues ? I do not believe this, israeli police must to start a post mortem investigation, immediately ! ( a joke, for small brained people )

he was a steel man it was in his system to resolve the problem okey but this system may not benifite the results if he did not look to the causes of the problem even in the treaty of israil- egypt peace in camp david // it was to let egypt out of the conflict of israil palastinians even it was it is and it will be the base of the problem

Olmert you are the epitomy of what Zacharia referred to as the corrupt shepherds you appear to sell out for cigars and luxuries; you shame jews as Madoff and the rapist president shamed us. A fool whose hands are dirty taking shohad , I pray that you be given some conscience even as late in the day as now so you can feel the Chillul you perpetrated and spend the rest of your days in shame. The name Olmert should be cursed in Israel and synonymous with taking bribes whilst in office .

I would not write a single thing [positive or negative] if the deceased were a left winger, as I tend to only give praise to those I look up to and consider heroes. I would certainly not call out "bad" policies after a left winger prime minister passed, who was being given praise by those who looked up to them as heroes. I would however call out bad policies while they are living, or in articles that specifically analyze past policies of theirs. This article is meant to honor a man. The man deserves only praise at this point, and certainly in an article meant as a eulogy to him. It is disrespectful to play partisan politics on an oped like this. I respect all your opinions, but the context and time is inappropriate for those type of comments.

On paper the idea of a Jordanian ruled condominium [as you put it] with Israeli military presence is nice and well. In reality, it would never hold as a permanent solution. It would be a gateway to much worse. The plan mentions both Israel and Jordan, what of the Arabs who live in Gaza and the West Bank? Neither seem to consider themselves Jordanian, nor do the Jordanians allow them Jordanian identity even if they wanted it. So you believe Mr. Bendavid that they would willingly be civilian administered by Jordan while militarily administrated by Israel? Both the pundits on the right and the left have childish notions that if only we did X then Y would follow. We'd all magically resolve all our problems. Adults are slightly more discerning in their analyses, and realize that no single solution can resolve all problems.

well may-be not you personally but we do have plenty of examples of how the right and extreme right criticize our leaders (left, right, center - doesn't matter) when those leaders do not carry out the will of this vocal minority! Having said that, I do see your point and respect it. Thank you for sharing it.

so I think it would have been difficult for him to continue working. Additionally a little news flash Israel is a democracy and Mr. Shamir was voted out in 1992

For Olmert to even open his mouth is astounding and abominable after what he did to Israel and her soldiers in Lebanon in 2006. Its no surprise that he considers Shamir a man of iron - Shamir who caved in to American pressure when the scuds fell on Tel Aviv and he did nothing in response. And worse, accepted American soldiers to defend Israel. Busha v'hirpah.