Israel: PM's reshuffle gained stability, not popular support

I said during his atrocious handling of the war in Lebanon that I would be surprised if Ehud Olmert survived as Israeli Prime Minister and I have been staggered since at the disgraceful steps he has taken to shore up his leadership, the most shocking being the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman, a self confessed fascist, as Israel's Deputy Prime Minster.

However, a recent Israeli opinion poll has shown that support for Olmert is at staggeringly low levels.

A poll conducted by Haaretz and Dialog under the guidance of Professor Camille Fuchs earlier this week found that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's approval rating is only 20 percent, while 70 percent of respondents said that they were dissatisfied with his leadership.

Olmert can take some comfort from the fact that he does not need to face the public at the polls any time soon, mostly because of the fact that he has bolstered his support by including fascists in his government and Labour's astonishing acquiescence in that decision, but one day he will face his day of reckoning at the ballot box.

The silence and hypocrisy of the EU and US, who condemned the Palestinians for electing Hamas and yet remain silent as Israel appoint a fascist as Deputy Prime Minister is entirely predictable.

Hebrew University professor Ze'ev Sternhell, a leading Israeli academic specialist on fascism and totalitarianism, was quoted by the Scotsman newspaper as terming Lieberman "perhaps the most dangerous politician in the history of the state of Israel."

The state of Israel, thanks to Olmert, now have as their Deputy Prime Minister a man who said in only 2002:

"I would not hesitate to send the Israeli army into all of Area A [the area of the West Bank ostensibly under Palestinian Authority control] for 48 hours. Destroy the foundation of all the authority's military infrastructure, all of the police buildings, the arsenals, all the posts of the security forces... not leave one stone on another. Destroy everything." He also suggested to the Israeli cabinet that the air force systematically bomb all the commercial centers, gas stations and banks in the occupied territories (The Independent, March 7, 2002).

Only one in five Israelis approve of the job Olmert is doing as Prime Minister. The rest of the world has almost no opinion as our leaders have remained largely silent whilst a fascist is promoted to Deputy Prime Minister of a country in the most volatile region in the world.

Under Olmert's leadership Israel has lurched into very dangerous territory. I am pleased to see that most Israeli's disapprove of his leadership, I only wish the leaders of the free world showed similar common sense.

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tag: Israel, Road Map, Lebanon, Olmert, Deputy Prime Minister, Lieberman,