HE'S HAD A BAAAAD DAY...
I was away from the computer most of last night and today due to a health emergency. So I am coming late to the Olmert Disaster.I've spent most of my time reading the calls for his resignation and the poor choices to replace him. Minister Livni's weak and limp response didn't win her any points with me either. Much like Bush and Cheney I am saddened that when Israel needs bold leadership more than ever, there is none to be had. I won't say too much that bloggers more astute and better than myself haven't already said...
PM Olmert - leave with some shred of your dignity in tact. Please.
Olmert Faces Another Day of Calls to Resign
by Hillel Fendel and Ezra HaLevi
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert survived the day-after-Winograd better than expected, but faces another rough day Thursday: The Knesset will convene to discuss the Winograd report, and later, a large protest is scheduled in Tel Aviv, demanding the government’s resignation.
The Knesset session is considered an emergency session, taking place during the spring recess at the request of 27 Members of Knesset. It will consist of five-minute speeches by a representative of each party. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, sure to be the target of most of the recrimination and outrage, has said he will not be addressing the session or responding to any accusations.
In addition, when the Knesset recess officially ends Monday, four no-confidence motions await the Kadima-led government.
On the other hand, PM Olmert’s government coalition - which appeared to be crumbling yesterday following the resignations of two members and a call for his own resignation by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni - is doing much better this morning. The vast majority of his Kadima Knesset faction voted to support Olmert last night, saying that strengthening the coalition is the charge of the hour.
One of Olmert's aides seemed overjoyed at the fact that his man, the Prime Minister of Israel, had survived another day in power. "People think he's terminally ill," the aide told a Ynet columnist, "and they are surprised each time anew when he survives another week and another week. It is now clear to all that rumors of his demise were premature - very premature."
Minister Livni, for her part, has lost much political capital after calling publicly for Olmert's resignation, yet not resigning herself. Some analysts have even said that she has basically put an end to her promising political career. Olmert is currently considering whether to fire her. His advisor Tal Silberstein has said she must be dismissed, but new coalition whip MK Tzachi HaNegbi says the opposite.
Olmert appointed HaNegbi as coalition whip Wednesday night in replacement of MK Avigdor Yitzchaki, who resigned when Olmert did not. Yitzchaki's resignation followed that of Labor Party minister Eitan Cabel the previous day. The two resignations have not yet caused the chain reaction Cabel and Yitzchaki hoped for, however.
Within Labor, no clear direction has yet been taken as to whether to support Olmert. The other three coalition parties - Shas, Yisrael Beiteinu and the Pensioners - appear to be united in their public support for Olmert.
Politician-Free Protest
The mass protest scheduled for 7 PM at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square will not feature any speeches by currently-serving politicians, organizers say. Instead, reservists who fought in the Second Lebanon War, bereaved parents and relatives of fallen soldiers, and cultural figures will address the crowd. A group of reservists that set out from the town of Sderot two days ago on foot will also arrive in Tel Aviv in time for the protest.
Ex-National Security Council chief Gen (ret.) Uzi Dayan, chairman of the tiny Tafnit Party, which did not succeed in entering the Knesset in the last election, is one of the organizers. He says he believes the public can pressure the prime minister and defense minister to resign.
“What kind of audacity do the prime minister and defense minister have that they just dismiss the will of the people and the conclusions of the Winograd report,” Dayan told Arutz-7. “Tonight, all sectors of society will come together to demand accountability. Respected television and newspaper journalist Ari Shavit told Army Radio this morning:
"This nation is basically healthy, but its leadership is very ill and weak, a bunch of zeroes, and a danger to the country's existence. The Winograd Report made the situation very clear - and if tonight, the nation does not come out in masses to demand that this government dissolve itself, then it deserves whatever it gets."The two-hour protest will feature performances relating to the war by Gilad Segev, Shay Gabso, Nimrod Lev, leftist musician Aviv Gefen and right-wing hip-hop stars Subliminal. Writers Meir Shalev and Chaim Guri will also address the protesters.
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