The Ending of an Israeli Political Joke
I am of course referring to Ehud Olmert, who will say goodbye to the Prime Ministership after Tzipi Livni likely garnered more than 40% of the vote in the election for the new Kadima leader, negating a second round of voting.
I am happy with the result in the sense that it spares us more Olmert. The downside is it gives us Livni.
Meanwhile, I would like to ask my Israeli readers and anyone who follows events in Israel closely: In your opinion, was Olmert Israel’s worst ever Prime Minister?
I think you can guess my answer.
Update: Betrayed by the exit polls! Now it looks like the results were closer than predicted, with Livni not having achieved the 40% minimum, and Mofaz even gearing to appeal the results. Which for all intents and purposes means Olmert is not stepping down just yet.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: General
Is Zippi any better than Lurch? I've got the feeling she's no Golda Meir, and Meir blew it in '73, so…. One theory I've heard is that if she becomes PM, she'll get a pretty swift introduction to leading a state in war.
Answer: YES! YES! YES! But I'm sure Tzipora will try, and if given time 'till 2010 succeed, to surpass our worst expectations.
I wonder if anyone is going to respond in the negative….
Does anyone think Livni can put together a coalition? I guess she can count on Labor, so that is 48 there. Pensioners gives her 55. I doubt she'll take on Meretz (or Meretz would want to join the coalition), and the Chareidi parties might have issues with a woman on top. Of course, money changes everything, so we'll see. But if the recent "splitting Jerusalem" rumors are true, then she can count Shas out.
I for one do not think Olmert is/was our worst PM. Ehud Barak was no picnic either. Also Bibi's first time around was quite disappointing. In fact, I can't remember when I was last pleased with our PM in the 24 years that I've been here – except perhaps when Peres was part of the unity government and implemented the "package deal" and stopped the inflation. Therefore no, Olmert is not our worst, he is just as bad as the others.
It would be hard to even make up a worse Prime Minister for Israel than Olmert . He is awful but fortunately mostly ineffective. I've read this theory that the right is actually worse for Israel than the left because at least the left has the right wing to oppose it. When the right is in power, they still cave in to pressure but there is nothing to oppose them. Israel needs a people's revolution. The Israeli people don't deserve to be led by these cowards and traitors.
I have followed both Israeli politics and American politics closely for over 3 decades (American politics for over 4 decades). I regret to say that both countries presently have the worst leaders I have ever seen. I met Olmert when he was running for Mayor of Jerusalem. My immediate impression was that he was a caricature of a politician. He looked like a facade, no depth , just smile and handshake. Although I do not agree with everything Mr. Sharon did in his career, I have the utmost respect for him. Sharon is a strategic genius. Following Sharon with Olmert is pretty tough for anyone who loves Israel to take. Stan
Anyone who compares Ehud Olmert to previous Israeli PMs – please have sufficiently big perspective to compare him also with Moshe Sharet and Golda Meir.
I offer Ehud Barak as worse PM ever. He has set the baseline with the Palestinians as most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and put refugees on the table. He set the baseline with the Syrians as all of the Golan. He destroyed our intelligence network and credibility in South Lebanon, laying the foundations for Leb War 2 – and three – cut back on the army and failed to respond to the kidnapping in 2000. He caused the second intifada whilst managing to guarantee Israel got blamed for it. Oh as chief of staff he did the introduction of Islamic Jihad and Hamas to Hizbollah. I think Olmert is almost a genius by comparison.
Itzhak Rabin is easily the worst Prime Minister Israel has ever had. Nothing Olmert has done can compare to the long term damage the Oslo agreement caused.
Now, now, Yigal!!!
What's the story Shy Guy? Because Rabin was assassinated I'm supposed to lie about his term in office.
The story is I was just trying a bit of humor based on your name.
Otherwise, I tend to agree with you. Go to http://hotair.com/headlines/?p=18228“target=”_blank”>this HotAir headline entry from yesterday. Page down to read 2 of my responses there to other commentors. Shabbat Shalom.