Don't be rude to the rabbi

Two Israeli politicians go to their last stand

Israel is once again preparing for elections. So far we are talking about elections in the second largest party in the Knesset - Labor (Workers' Party) and about the presidential elections that will take place next week - on June 12 and 13, respectively. Moreover, the results of both elections may well affect the political fate of the leader of the centrist Kadima party, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert . Whether Olmert will be able to stay in his chair largely depends on who will lead Labor, a fellow member of the ruling coalition.

65-year-old former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet), 61-year-old Ami Ayalon, are vying for the post of head of Labor . According to polls, he will win with 49% of the vote. But Barak also has a chance of success, although about 44% predict him. The former prime minister said that if he wins, he will seek Olmert's resignation. If Olmert does not resign, then Barak will withdraw Labor from the ruling coalition. Labor is now headed by Amir Peretz, who holds the post of Defense Minister.

Ayalon also behaves quite aggressively towards Olmert, promising him resignation if he wins. All this gives many reasons to claim that Olmert's days as prime minister are numbered. But there is another point of view. “We don’t think that the new leader of Labor will insist on Olmert’s resignation, and the party elections will lead to serious changes in the composition of the cabinet. As a rule, there is a difference between election promises and real deeds,” a source at the US Embassy in Israel told Vremya Novostei. According to our data, the same point of view is shared by the Russian Embassy in Israel.

Olmert himself is trying with all his might to hold onto his post, acting as a peacemaker. The Yedioth Ahronot newspaper reported yesterday that he sent a letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, offering in exchange for peace the return of the strategically important Golan Heights for Israel, captured during the Six-Day War of 1967. “This refers to the continuation of secret negotiations, which back in 1992 were conducted by the Prime Minister of Israel and the head of Labor, Yitzhak Rabin. He proposed Israel's gradual withdrawal from the Golan in exchange for Syria's renunciation of hostile actions and cooperation with terrorist organizations whose headquarters are located in Syria. That is, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the National Front for the Liberation of Palestine,” Moshe Marzuk, an employee of the Institute for Combating Terrorism in Herzliya, explained to VN.

Prime Minister Olmert agreed on the issue of negotiations with Syria during a telephone conversation with US President Bush back in April. And on June 19, Olmert's visit to the United States will begin, and negotiations with Syria will likely become the central topic of the negotiations.

As for the presidential elections in Israel, on June 13, 83-year-old veteran of Israeli politics and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres will enter his last battle for the post of head of the Jewish state. The president in Israel is a nominal, representative figure, and the president is chosen not by the people, but by the Knesset. But according to polls, Perez has the best chance of success. Also vying for the presidency are Knesset members from the Likud party, 68-year-old Reuven Rivlin and 67-year-old Colette Avital from Labor. They are known much less.

The only catch is that during his long political career, Perez lost elections more than once. In 2000, he lost the presidency to the current head of state, Moshe Katsav (temporarily removed from office on charges of sexual harassment of his secretaries). In 2005, Shimon Peres lost leadership in his native Labor to Amir Peretz. Moreover, in both cases, all polls predicted victory for Perez. In Israel they tell the story of how fifty years ago the young Peres was rude to a rabbi. And he predicted losses for him in life.

Maria GRISHINA, Dmitry DUBOV, Jerusalem