Peres and Olmert Love Bush

President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President George W. Bush spoke at an event commemorating sixty years of Israeli-American relations. President Bush was happy to hear, and moved by, the praise his Israeli hosts lavished upon him. I, on the other hand, found it embarrassing. They should have stuck to praising the American policy of friendship and support for Israel over the decades and given Dubya himself no more than a few token words. But no, they had to call him a great leader, a man with a vision, a champion of freedom and democracy, a man who history will treat kindly, blah blah blah.

Sure, they can't say how horrible a leader he really is. They can't say "Thank you, President Bush, for making Israel less safe by attacking a country that, as it turns out, was never really a threat to us and instead made it a breeding ground for Al-Qaeda and Shi'ite terrorism. We really appreciate the fact that now that you have failed in Iraq, the United States can't afford to face what seems to be a greater threat than Saddam Hussein ever was". And the list of bad things goes on... They can't say all those things, but they shouldn't say what is at best a bunch of lies about how great he is (at best, since the worst case scenario is that they actually believe what they are saying, which means our leaders have horrible judgment).

The event tonight was part of a conference about the future of Israel, organized by President Peres. Channel 1, the public channel that is owned by the government but supposedly independent from it, showed the whole US-Israel event, including the video clips about the history of the two countries' ties with each other. I felt like I was watching North Korean or Cuban TV. The clips weren't mini-documentaries but rather straight out of the PR department. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Long Live President Peres

Don't die on us, President Shimon Peres. Yes, you're 84 years old, and you'll be 91 by the time your term ends, but hang in there. We don't need idiots like Ruby Rivlin as our head of state, which will surely happen if you push up daisies any time soon. You yourself aren't that great. You should have retired long ago. But at least you're a Nobel laureate and the world sees you as a great statesman.

You'll probably make the presidency interesting again, and this time not for possibly illegal behavior. You're the most active and political person in Israel, but you're in an office that is ceremonial and apolitical. You'll give the governments that serve during your presidency a lot of hell.

Let the fireworks begin!

This Week in Failed Prime Ministers (FPMs)

It was a good week for our current FPM, Ehud Olmert. The election of former FPM Ehud Barak as chairman of the Labor Party and the election of PFPM (Partially Failed PM) Shimon Peres as the next president of Israel, allow him to stay in office for a while longer. Former FPM Benjamin Netanyahu was humiliated when the Likud's presidential nominee, Ruby Rivlin got only 37 votes in the Knesset.

I used to have a fantasy about Israel's next general elections. I hoped we may get a chance to pick between two great candidates for prime minister: Avishai Braverman of Labor, and Tzipi Livni of Kadima. Now that seems far fetched. Even if Livni will be Kadima's next nominee, the real fight will be between two very bad options. So, which FPM is the lesser of evils - Bibi or Barak? Barak, but not by much.

Meanwhile in Gaza, the results of former FPM Ariel Sharon's policy of unilateral withdrawal are now proving that the disengagement was a disaster. Most Israelis believe Sharon was one of our greatest leaders, but he was not. His insistence on pulling out of Gaza without talking to the other side was a mistake for which we will pay for a very long time.

But I'll end on an optimistic note. The day Shimon Peres was elected president also saw the conclusion of a 3-day conference of Israeli and Palestinian peace NGOs in Tuscany, Italy, organized by the Peres Center for Peace. Representatives of over 100 organizations participated and discussed ways to promote peace even while our governments aren't negotiating with each other. One of the conference's achievements was the creation of a network of NGOs who will now cooperate with each other. Hey, there may still be some hope yet.

Tzipi Livni or Meir Sheetrit for Prime Minister

Ehud Olmert has been a colossal failure as prime minister of Israel. The Winograd Commission's partial report, released Monday, supplied an abundance of evidence demonstrating he is unfit for leadership. The Second Lebanon War is far from being his only failure. He must step down.

I do not want new elections now. If that happens, we will have Benjamin Netanyahu as our prime minister. Last time he was our chief executive, 1996-1999, he was a terrible leader. His election would be disastrous to any peace efforts, among other things.

For fear of Netanyahu's election, the only good solution I can see is for the government to choose a new prime minister from among Kadima's current cabinet ministers. The best choice would be Tzipi Livni, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister, but the ultra-orthodox Shas party and the ultra-right wing Israel Beytenu (Israel Our Home) may leave the coalition if she is selected. I'd be happy to see these two parties out of the government, but without them the government wouldn't have a parliamentary majority and there would be new elections.

The second best choice is Minister of Housing and Construction Meir Sheetrit. He has been calling for negotiations with the Arab League (and says we should talk to them in Arabic, not English) and has done well in his various cabinet posts. Israel Beytenu would probably leave the government, which is very good, but Shas would stick by him. After all, for the Sephardic Shas not to support Israel's first Moroccan prime minister would be unthinkable.

I hope Shimon Peres won't be Olmert's replacement as prime minister. His testimony before the Winograd Commission showed that loyalty to the prime minister is more important to him than loyalty to what is best for the country. He told the commission he thought the government was making the wrong decisions but said nothing at the cabinet meetings. That is also why he should not be president after Moshe Katzav.