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Cabinet debate on state budget turns into battleground for Olmert, Barak By Barak Ravid The political crisis and the upcoming Kadima primaries turned the debate on the state budget in yesterday's cabinet meeting into a sharp clash between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. At the center of the argument was the criticism voiced by Barak over the past few weeks of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War. The encounter began after National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer went after the move to cut the defense budget. "You can't choose between welfare and defense," Ben-Eliezer said. "Didn't we learn the lesson of Georgia?" Olmert, surprised at the analogy, responded with a joke. "What do you mean, didn't we learn? I promise you we will not attack Georgia." Advertisement Ben-Eliezer was not amused. "If we don't spend on Israel's security, we will weaken," he said. Olmert responded: If a few cabinet ministers spoke less about Resolution 1701, which has only done us good and brought calm to the north, then we wouldn't be radiating weakness. "A man wakes up in the morning, is bitten by a mosquito, and he feels the need to attack Tzipi - excuse me, Tzipora - and to talk about Resolution 1701," Olmert railed at Barak. Barak decided to step in. "Does someone have complaints about the most difficult six years we've ever had here?," he asked. "They were six years in which so many things were neglected," Olmert said. Suddenly a note was passed to Olmert from outside the chamber. He rose to take a phone call but not before shooting a final barb at Barak. "I've been called away to the 'red phone,' but I'm sure that Zipi can respond to you." Olmert turned to Livni, smiling as he said, "To me, you're still Tzipi." Livni shot back: "That's alright, both names are listed on my identity card." The Labor Party issued a strong response to Olmert: "It's not Mr. Olmert who will teach us how to behave, when an entire country is licking the wounds of his mosquito bite of two years ago, which led to one of the most failed wars in Israeli history ... The entire public is aware of Olmert's real opinion of the Kadima candidates, and their negative opinions of him." After Barak's critique of plans to cut the defense budget, Olmert launched into a long monologue denouncing his behavior in the cabinet. "Because of you, it's impossible to hold a serious discussion of the defense establishment, since you prevent it ... No serious debate has been held on the multi-year program for the Israel Defense Forces," Olmert said, lashing out at Barak. Olmert went on to attack Barak for delaying a final agreement on the conclusions of a committee headed by former minister Dan Meridor and appointed by former prime minister Ariel Sharon to formulate the country's national security platform. "Twenty times we asked you to do it and you don't permit it," Olmert said. "So you can sit before the cabinet and present a scenario for the assault of a superpower and to say we need money to plan for it, but that's not realistic." Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who asked for an increase to the police budget, was also in Olmert's sights. "Recently I have heard Minister Dichter say things that he would not say were he behaving wisely. It's true I told him to fight public corruption but I also told him to provide security for our citizens so they can walk in the street without fearing that someone will hit him with a club, or go to the beach without fear of being killed when detectives following a murderer are sitting a meter away." Bookmark to del.icio.us   A second chance Parents shocked to see their baby breathing moments before she was to be buried. Kafka the Zionist Remnants of Kafka's estate found in T.A. raise questions of his belief in Zionism.

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