Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749019.html
**The officials charged that the emerging resolution is very problematic for Israel, because it makes no provision for the immediate return of the kidnapped soldiers (it urges their return, but this is not one of the resolution’s operative clauses), includes no stringent supervisory mechanism to prevent a renewed flow of arms to Hezbollah, and does not guarantee the organization’s disarmament. **
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
Oh I think the pressure will be on for Hezbollah to comply or they will face a deadly replay of the past 31 days, do you think that's really going to be welcomed? As far as weapon shippments, I think it would be wise to stop that flow rather than forcing Israel to do it.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
At best, if Hizbullah continues fighting Olmert gets a do-over. I am watching the UN now, but I would bet that the Israeli ambassador will say the war is back on if a single rocket hits Israel. Hizbullah could screw the pooch.
Undoubtedly Israel has a number of Hizbullah fighters. I imagine that they would like to spend some time with them, rather than exchange them immediately.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
Considering that Israel has achieved none of it's war aims, and actually lost more in the last 31 days that is wishful thinking. Hezbollah and Lebanon's main demands have been met in the UN resolution and that is why Israeli politicians and soldiers are having to to accept this like a bitter pill they have to swallow.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
When the Isrealis pull out of the south, I am sure you will find areas that look like moonscape. Hizbullah will have to answer some tough questions on their wisdom. Initially they will have some well organized street celebrations. But unless they disarm Lebanon will never get rebuilt. No one will invest a dime in bridges that can best be viewed as temporary.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
1 month today and almost 100 Israeli soldiers killed by Hezbollah.
Have those 2 soldiers been released yet?
Has Hezbollah been defeated?
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
Tick tock...Monday is close
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/749681.html
Let the devil take tomorrow
By Moshe Arens
To lead the nation in a war to victory was just too much for them. Too heavy a burden for their narrow shoulders. That trio - Ehud Olmert, Amir Peretz and Tzipi Livni - asked and received a mandate to lead the people of Israel, promising to take our fate into our own hands and unilaterally establish Israel’s borders by evacuating Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria, and turn Israel into a country “in which it will be a pleasure to live.” We do not know and probably will never know if they would have been up to that task, but we now know they are not fit to govern Israel in these trying times.
** They had a few days of glory when they still believed that the IAF’s bombing of Lebanon would make short shrift of Hezbollah and bring us victory without pain. But as the war they so grossly mismanaged wore on, as northern Israel received its daily dose of 150-200 rockets, the Galilee was destroyed and burned to the ground, over a million Israelis sat in shelters or abandoned their homes and both civilian and military casualties mounted - gradually the air went out of them. Here and there, they still let off some bellicose declarations, but they started looking for an exit - how to extricate themselves from the turn of events they were obviously incapable of managing. They grasped for straws, and what better straw than the United Nations Security Council. No need to score a military victory over Hezbollah. Let the UN declare a cease-fire, and Olmert, Peretz, and Livni can simply declare victory, whether you believe it or not.
An almost audible sigh of relief could be heard from the Prime Minister’s Office as the negotiations that were supposed to lead to a cease-fire began at the UN. The appropriate rhetoric has already started flying. So what if the whole world sees this diplomatic arrangement - which Israel agreed to while it was still receiving a daily dose of Hezbollah rockets - as a defeat suffered by Israel at the hands of a few thousand Hezbollah fighters? So what if nobody believes that an “emboldened” UNIFIL force will disarm Hezbollah, and that Hezbollah with thousands of rockets still in its arsenal and truly emboldened by this month’s success against the mighty Israel Defense Forces, will now become a partner for peace? Does a cease-fire that will avoid further casualties among the IDF’s soldiers not outweigh these concerns over future events? ** 
Many politicians are notorious for preferring short-term considerations over a long-term view. Examples abound of the dangers of such myopic policies. From Munich in Europe of 1938 that set the stage for World War II, to Oslo in 1993 which brought Arafat and his cohorts from Tunis here, to the disengagement from Gush Katif last year that brought Hamas to power, and Barak’s hasty withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, which sowed the seeds of the latest intifada and is the root cause of the current war - the rotten fruits of that withdrawal we have been reaping this past month.
The long-term implications of an Israeli agreement to a UN brokered cease-fire at this time are obvious. Israel’s enemies, and they are many, will conclude that Israel does not have the stamina for an extended encounter with terrorism. You do not need tanks and aircraft to defeat Israel - a few thousand rockets are enough. Katyushas today and Qassams tomorrow. Don’t let Olmert, Peretz and Livni fool you: These rockets will keep coming after Israel is seen as not only punished but also defeated in this month-long war.
“Yesterday is dead and tomorrow’s out of sight,” Dean Martin used to sing. Olmert may be humming this song as he agrees to the UN cease-fire resolution, and Peretz and Livni can sing the refrain “let the devil take tomorrow.” But tomorrow will come much sooner than they expect. And it will find Israel with nothing left of its deterrent capability that used to keep its enemies at bay. The war, which according to our leaders was supposed to restore Israel’s deterrent posture, has within one month succeeded in destroying it. That message will not be lost on Hamas, the Syrians and the Iranians, and possibly even some of our Arab neighbors who for many years had forsworn belligerence against Israel.
The task facing Israel now is to restore its deterrent posture and prepare for the attacks that are sure to come. But not with this leadership. They have exhausted whatever little credit they had when they were voted into office.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
Just like they replaced their chief of staff, they shud replace this moron they call a leader. This guy has failed on all fronts, couldn't deliver on even a single promise. Now he is running for a ceasefire with his tail between his legs. :)
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
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Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
Whatever Israel did was in accordance and blessing with the United States. I mean let us get it clear and upfront, Americans wanted this war it is just that they delegated it to the Israelis. Question is accountability, what did you achieve in past month? What have Israel to prove that it achieved in last month except mass murderer of innocent civilians. Why would Americans support an “ally” like Israel?
Now after losing the war, all they can do is whine and cry. Now they want a cease-fire when they know their existence is at stake. How can Americans stand by an administration (Olmert and Bush) that is always on the wrong side? How can you stand by an administration that puts you and your family in danger? Children paid the price for the mistake, I hope Americans remember that.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
CNN, MSNBC, FOX: The children were brainwashed, and would have eventually become terrorists, so good riddens.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
^
looks like Baghdad Bob, Iraqi Information Minister, is back.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
Hizb rockets change Jewish mode.. I am pretty sure next phase of Hizb strategy will be Til Aviv.
First hints of Israeli dissent
Mr Olmert is not pleased with the army’s performance and is convinced that the war must be stopped.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
Yeah I think he is now operating from Israel claiming Hezbollah wiped out and no Israeli casualty.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
Nope, I am working for the IDF claiming that “ONLY” 114 Israel soldiers were killed by Hezbollah in just a month.
haha indeed.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
Burnt toast.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=2311506
Olmert fights for political survival
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began a battle for his political survival on Monday by acknowledging shortcomings in the conduct of a month-long war with Hizbollah but saying the fight had been worthwhile. Addressing a special session of parliament after a U.N.-brokered truce took effect in Lebanon, Olmert said Hizbollah, which fired thousands of rockets into Israel, could no longer “act within a state as part of the axis of evil.” “This (U.N.) resolution contains a series of obligations that should change fundamentally the situation along the northern border,” Olmert said in his speech, which was interrupted several times by heckling from opposition lawmakers. He was referring to the ceasefire deal under which Israeli forces will withdraw from southern Lebanon as an international contingent of up to 15,000 troops deploys along the frontier.
Opinion polls show public support eroding for Olmert, a career politician who lacks the combat credentials of many of his predecessors. He has faced a backlash over his decision to accept the U.N. resolution and for failing to deliver a fatal blow to Hizbollah. Army officers have said they were held back and right-wing rivals have been calling for new elections. The next national ballot is not due until 2010. “There were … shortcomings. We will have to examine ourselves at all levels,” Olmert told parliament, hours after Defense Minister Amir Peretz promised a thorough investigation of Israel’s conduct of the war. “The overall responsibility for this operation lies with me, the prime minister. I am not asking to share this with anyone,” said Olmert, who won election in March.
**A new opinion poll on the YNet news website showed 58 percent of Israelis believed the government had achieved none or just a small part of its goals in the war. The Globes-Smith survey found that Olmert’s centrist Kadima party would have little chance of winning re-election if a vote was held now. **
Right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, saying it was time for unity and introspection, stopped short in his address to parliament of directly attacking Olmert. But Netanyahu dismissed the ceasefire as only a lull that would enable Hizbollah to re-arm and confront Israel again. Olmert said that despite the end of fighting, Israel would keep pursuing Hizbollah leaders, calling such actions a “moral right” and vowing to respond to any truce violations. “They will not get off free. We will continue to pursue them everywhere and anytime,” he said, without mentioning directly Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Except for Israel’s ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, Israel suffered heavier civilian casualties in the Lebanon conflict than in any fighting since the war at the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. **Around 1,100 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 156 Israelis, including 116 soldiers, have been killed in the war, which was triggered when Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. ** Netanyahu, a strong critic of Israel’s Gaza pullout last year, said one casualty of the latest conflict was the notion that Israel could expect peace if it carried out unilateral withdrawals from territories it captured. “We left Lebanon to the last centimeter and they are firing. We left Gaza to the last centimeter and they are firing,” he said, hours after rockets launched by Palestinian militants landed in the southern Israeli town of Ashkelon. “The concept of unilateral withdrawals has collapsed.” Olmert has vowed to implement a plan to dismantle dozens of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, while consolidating others, in the absence of peacemaking.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert's popularity plunges
By M.J. Rosenberg | bio
It certainly didn't take long for the recriminations to begin in Israel.
Top pundits are calling for Prime Minister Olmert to step aside. A Ha'aretz poll finds that 70% of respondents want the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, and the military chief-of-staff to resign. Commissions of Inquiry will almost surely be set up and heads will roll.
Re: Israeli PM Olmert’s popularity plunges
Just like the returning American soldiers from Vietnam.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20060821-115733-8452r.htm
Israeli reservists protest Olmert
Israeli reservists, fresh from fighting in southern Lebanon, demanded yesterday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resign over what they describe as the debacle of the monthlong war with Hezbollah. The calls of the reservists will make it more difficult for Mr. Olmert’s Cabinet to avoid appointing a formal “state commission of inquiry,” panels that helped bring down two prominent Israeli leaders in the past 33 years. Reservists told of insufficient provisions, of having no water in the summer heat and being forced to drink from canteens of dead Hezbollah guerrillas, shortages of combat equipment and indecisive orders. One group of about 200 from the reservist Infantry Brigade 8101 gathered in front of “When a CEO fails, they usually fire him. There were big mistakes – mistakes that even the simple soldier could see,” said Yossi Avigur. “They didn’t give us the tools to win, and they didn’t give us the momentum to win.” The soldiers also called for the resignation of Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Army Chief of Staff Dan Halutz. The protests were amplified in an open letter to the government by a separate unit of reservists, who also called for a panel of inquiry. The letter accused the government of getting cold feet during the war, and it charged political and military leaders with indecisiveness. “The feeling that all of the echelons above us were plagued with unpreparedness and lack of seriousness … leads us to the question: Why have we been called up?” said the letter. “The crisis of confidence between ourselves as soldiers and the upper political and military strata will only be solved by an independent panel.”
Reservists, the backbone of Israel’s military, carry huge moral authority in Israeli society. They are mostly young professionals with families who spend one month a year on active service. After being called up to fight in Lebanon, the reservists view the criticism being leveled at the Olmert government as transcending partisan politics. “They are not perceived as protesting against the war for political reasons, but what they saw in the field,” said Sam Lehman Wilzig, a professor of political science at Bar Ilan University. “They are viewed as salt-of-the-earth, pillar-of-society kind of people. These are not people mouthing off as a commentator or a kibitzer on the sideline.” The protests strike an especially deep chord among older Israelis, who recall a demonstration by one lone reservist after the 1973 Yom Kippur War that helped prod the government to set up a panel of inquiry. The panel’s findings led to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Golda Meir. In 1982, a state commission of inquiry found then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon negligent in the first Lebanese war and recommended he be barred from the position. Mr. Sharon resigned. In the streets of Jerusalem yesterday, reservists carrying Israeli flags and wearing baseball-style caps with the insignia of their unit recounted how their orders were changed several times within hours. Nicknamed the “Alexandroni battalion,” the soldiers, who spent two weeks in Lebanon, said they were forced to loot Lebanese stores and houses to get food. The soldiers said Israel doesn’t need a commission of inquiry, because the war’s mismanagement is clear. “If a dentist sees a rotten tooth, he doesn’t put in a filling, he does a root canal,” said Roni Zvigenheim, an organizer of the march. Mr. Olmert has defended himself by saying previous governments failed to prepare for the Hezbollah threat. “We knew for years that there was a great danger, but for some reason, we didn’t translate that understanding into action, like we just did,” he said. “We knew what Iran was doing, what Syria was doing, in arming Hezbollah. We acted as if we didn’t know.”