More than 60 pct of Israelis want Olmert to quit-poll

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L259182212.htm

More than 60 pct of Israelis want Olmert to quit-poll


JERUSALEM, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Sixty-three percent of Israelis want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign in a sharp public rebuke over his handling of the war in Lebanon against Hizbollah, a newspaper poll showed on Friday.

Many Israelis view a U.N.-brokered ceasefire backed by Olmert as a failure for Israel because Hizbollah's leadership was left standing and the two Israeli soldiers, whose capture by Hizbollah on July 12 sparked the war, were still in captivity.

At least 1,110 people in Lebanon and 157 Israelis were killed in the conflict.

The Yedioth Aronoth poll showed for the first time a majority favoured Olmert stepping down. Several surveys suggested a big jump in support for the right-wing Likud party and its leader Benjamin Netanyahu after the 34-day war.

[bluestateguy]

1. Netanyahu is worse. Much worse.

Put that asshole in and you'll all be longing for the days of Sharon and Olmert.

[sabra]

2. if bibi takes control - WWIII will follow :-(

[IndianaGreen]

3. Bibi is to the right of Sharon

Olmert's failure is that he opted for war rather than a prisoner swap.

It doesn't matter anymore if Bibi takes power. The situation is so FUBAR that the Israel will have to choose between peace, meaning withdrawing from lands taken in 1967, or war. The US will be out of the picture for we will be too busy withdrawing from Iraq and Afghanistan to pay attention to Israel's problems with her neighbours.

[furman]

7. Olmert's failure is that the war was not effective enough

Israel used air power too much in order to limit Israeli casualities.
The military wanted to use more ground forces earlier on.

A prisoner swap was not what Israel was looking for in this conflict.
The abduction of the IDF soldiers was just the "last straw".

[PCIntern]

8. Peace for you will be when Israel

withdraws to the Borders of the State of Montana, or even into the Mediterranean for all you care.

Or Madagascar...yeah that's the ticket!

[Poll_Blind]

9. Raids in Gaza and in Lebanon both came up empty-handed early-on. At...

...this point the aggression both in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and in Lebanon was primarily about something far different, far grander in scope, than rescuing the soldiers. Part of the impetus to make this move was to push Bibi, who'd been standing on Olmert's baitsim by publicly criticizing him on the very ineffective but politically-enraging Quassam attacks, part some egging from the Bush administration, part listening to Shin-Bet and the hawks who know or care little beyond their pet plans to "set things straight".

  Either way, he and Kadima are as impotent as a political force as Sharon is, currently, though in either case a True Miracle might change things. And in that region of miracles, it would take a big one in either case.

  No, it will be Likud in the next election and Bibi at the helm. A day will come soon after that when Olmert's inexperienced blunders are eclipsed in destruction by Bibi's well-rehearsed plans. Israel will take another step toward the utter destruction of both its neighbors and itself.

Israel will have to choose between peace, meaning withdrawing from lands taken in 1967, or war.

  I say Israel, through its empty-headed courtship of the settlements and the settlers will have a choice between war with the settlers (a la another Yigal Amir, of which there are certainly many) or some form of military action in the occupied territories to facilitate the next phase of Eretz Yisrael to placate the settlers. I would love to believe there were other, more moderate, options available to the next Israeli PM but decades of building up the settlements has really pointed it in a direction it must move in or suffer great damage, civilly, because of.

PB

[liberalmuse]

4. The Israeli's are in the same boat as we American's...

Over half of our respective populations disapprove of our facist government's war crimes. It's frustrating!

[grytpype]

5. The Israelis are way ahead of us on this "accountability" thing.

Has any pollster asked if people think Bush should resign? Not to my knowledge and I follow the polls pretty closely. I know there are polls about "considering impeachment" but that is a way different question.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

6. The magics of the parliamentary system.

If the chief of state fucks up too badly, he can be legally removed before his term much more easily.

[spindrifter]

10. Here's more on this story:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2329016,00.html

[Englander]

11. Mr Fish on Mr Olmert;

?click

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

12. Mr. Fish is great...

...that's the first toon I look at on Cagle's site.

Lots of great cartoonists there, but no others I know of that will produce anything sharply critical of Israel. Understandable, to do so would likely put them on the street.