Friday, August 11, 2006

Olmert Must Go, says Ari Shavit in Haaretz

Olmert cannot remain in the prime minister's office

By Ari Shavit


Ehud Olmert may decide to accept the French proposal for a cease-fire and unconditional surrender to Hezbollah. That is his privilege. Olmert is a prime minister whom journalists invented, journalists protected, and whose rule journalists preserved. Now the journalists are saying run away. That's legitimate. Unwise, but legitimate.

However, one thing should be clear: If Olmert runs away now from the war he initiated, he will not be able to remain prime minister for even one more day. Chutzpah has its limits. You cannot lead an entire nation to war promising victory, produce humiliating defeat and remain in power. You cannot bury 120 Israelis in cemeteries, keep a million Israelis in shelters for a month, wear down deterrent power, bring the next war very close, and then say - oops, I made a mistake. That was not the intention. Pass me a cigar, please.

There is no mistake Ehud Olmert did not make this past month. He went to war hastily, without properly gauging the outcome. He blindly followed the military without asking the necessary questions. He mistakenly gambled on air operations, was strangely late with the ground operation, and failed to implement the army's original plan, much more daring and sophisticated than that which was implemented. And after arrogantly and hastily bursting into war, Olmert managed it hesitantly, unfocused and limp. He neglected the home front and abandoned the residents of the north. He also failed shamefully on the diplomatic front.



The rest is here.

2 comments:

BoneCrusher said...

Please verify this story and send an update to Jameel:

Israel Begins the Destruction of Homes in Samaria, Wasting Valuable Military Resources and Creating a Third Front in the Current War ...

YMedad said...

Sorry, two sources weren't in. This Shaul is the big shlob of a guy who always appears as your "noraml, man-in-the-street" settler that Benny Liss loves to highlight. He's not pretty, overweight, looks like a weirdo. Probably an okay guy but, hey, I wouldn't trust him. And what's he doing in Adei-Ad. He lives in Hebron or Kiryat Arba, I think.