Reports in the past week seem to indicate that Fatah and Hamas are inching closer to agreement on the formation of a Palestinian unity government. Indeed, the groups are now discussing portfolios. One of the key features of the proposal is the fact that each group is entitled to nominate unaffiliated technocrats for many of the key posts, including the position of Prime Minister, which is to be filled by an academic.
While the independence of these technocrats is yet to be tested, it seems to me that in this strategy, the Palestinians are one step ahead of Israel; making merit the criteria for a cabinet position. Indeed, it leaves me wondering, on the anniversary of the creation of Kadima, whether we should not take a leaf out of the Palestinian book for once?
What has led me to this conclusion is the sheer incompetence (originally portrayed as freshness) of our political leaders and government officials. First and foremost, our Prime Minister. With Kassam rockets falling in droves on Sderot, and weapons being amassed on our Northern border by Hizballah and on our Western border by Hamas et al, Olmert has graciously announced that he is still ready for territorial compromises. While he does not "expect his enemies to be wonderful guys" he is willing to negotiate with them if they come to the table with clean hands, (a huge hurdle for Hamas, Hizballah and the like) halt terror, recognize Israel and agree to abide by all previous diplomatic agreements (all of which are seemingly very unlikely given recent statements by Hamas that they will not recognize Israel even in a unity government).
While Olmert sits and waits in his office for this to occur (and I can guarantee him that the wait will be long) many Israelis are ruing the day that he and Kadima were voted into power; and wondering what it would take to prove decisively to Kadima that unilateral withdrawal simply has not been and will not be successful. Indeed, one wonders whether anything would alter the government's unblinking commitment to this policy. The fact that in a statement last week Olmert said that he doubts the policy and essentially questions its success, does not inspire much confidence in the fact that he is nevertheless willing to continue after a war in the North, post withdrawal, and constant rocket barrage from Gaza, also following complete withdrawal!
Behind our deep thinking Prime Minister stands a row of equally incompetent individuals. Just to mention a few; our Defense Minister, who led the debacle of a campaign in Lebanon, this week telephoned Abbas in an attempt to reach a ceasefire in a ten minute conversation….I think that this says it all about the man's simplistic worldview and lack of understanding of the situation on the ground. To have this military novice heading our Ministry of Defense could actually have been a punch line at a recent Comedy Night I attended in Jerusalem last week, if it were not true…Shouldn't some military background be a prerequisite for what is arguably one of the most important jobs in Israel?
And Ms Livni, don’t we all wish that just one day Israel would actually have an English speaking Foreign Minister who can communicate with the outside world effectively? After all, as well as she may speak in Hebrew, it is her job to talk to the world, not Israelis.
Almost every conversation that I have with Israelis ends with the same point being made – that they feel that if there were elections held today there would be no one to vote for. I could not agree with them more….Kadima is incompetent, Labour is as shortsighted as ever, squabbling internally distracted from the threats Israel faces, and almost everyone I speak to thinks that Netanyahu is sly and corrupt….What seems clear to me is that a major revamp is called for in Israeli Politics. There is a desperate need for qualified people to run the government. It seems to me that the Palestinians may have realised this. When will we?
Comments