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Can anyone tell the difference? By Israel Harel Tags: Olmert, Barak Does anyone understand what the profound controversy that caused the loud argument between Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert is about? Why should an argument between the Labor and Kadima parties about NIS 700 million in the budget make Olmert threaten to fire Barak? What are the real differences between the two - and between Labor and Kadima - on security issues? An empty vessel, it seems, makes the most noise. The headlines present a spectacle of two parties divided on crucial matters. The text, however, doesn't say what the differences are. There is no real dispute reflecting different worldviews on most important questions. They don't even have contrasting ways of implementing decisions. It's hard to shake the impression that in different circumstances today's rivals could be sitting comfortably in the same party and defending the very policies they are attacking today. Advertisement Hassan Nasrallah has recently given another perspective to the cabinet's pseudo-security controversy. Olmert isn't the only one we have driven out in disgrace, he said scornfully. Eight years ago we forced Barak (then prime minister and defense minister) and Gabi Ashkenazi to flee Lebanon in the middle of the night. Indeed, Barak would do better to shut up about the flight from Lebanon, which took place without an agreement and in a manner that encouraged the enemy to resume its hostile acts, because there is no real argument, certainly not an ideological one, between Labor and Kadima or between Barak and Olmert. Neither leading party has a unique approach on how to deter Nasrallah, and subsequently the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world, which has yet to accept our existence as a Jewish state. Both parties' leaders are acting in a banal, predictable way, allowing Nasrallah (or Hamas) to lead them - that is, Israel - astray. They lack the capability of learning from failed, misleading concepts such as the repeated exchange of bodies for living terrorists, a small number of whom have murdered Israelis again. This week they decided to release some 200 prisoners, including murderers, as a gesture to the Palestinian Authority chairman. Has anyone noticed any argument between the parties? After all, this issue consists of several fundamental and tactical principles. Nobody in Labor said a word when Olmert, a prime minister who has lost both moral and political authority, told the Palestinians, after saying he would not run in his party's primary, that he was ready to pull out of 97 percent of the West Bank, as well as offering an act symbolizing the right of return: permitting 20,000 Palestinians to return to Israel. Israel won't call it the right of return, but that would be the real meaning of this precedent-setting proposal. And as though this weren't enough, in exchange for the 3 percent of land on which the settlement blocs would remain, Israel would give the Palestinians a similar area within Israel. It's also hard to distinguish between the two parties' stances on Syria - another issue worthy of thorough public discourse. Or toward Hamas (the entire cabinet approved the inexplicable decision to accept a weakened Hamas' truce proposal and let it recover, regroup, manufacture and import dozens of tons of materiel). Labor is preoccupied with Kadima's primary campaign and both parties' leaders are indifferent on issues that are crucial to our survival. The situation in Likud is not much different. Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu's old catchphrase, "if they give, they'll get; if they don't give, they won't get," voiced a basically tactical approach, even when he occasionally insisted on acting accordingly. There are very few people left who care about ideological principles, and those who do have no significant political power. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Tears of joy Shahar Zubari's bronze medal was Israel's first of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 'Germ of corruption' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats his prediction that Israel will be wiped off the map.

Read & React Ahmadinejad: Israel is a germ of corruption that will be removed Responses: 139 Israel warns nationals of Hezbollah kidnap threat abroad Responses: 37 Sheetrit: Israel must not attack Iran, except in line of defense Responses: 26 Meron Benvenisti: Israel's greatest fear is a one-state solution Responses: 72 More Headlines 00:40 U.S. to Syria: Do not meddle in Russia-Georgia conflict 19:04 Livni: Time is running out for peace talks with Palestinians 16:28 State orders West Bank fence rerouted in favor of Palestinians 02:26 ANALYSIS / Fence relocation is acknowledgment that route is politically motivated 02:46 Prosecution to seek immunity for Talansky in U.S. 02:45 Barak: I'm not worried about being removed before elections 01:47 Study: Babies in womb during Six-Day War more likely to have schizophrenia 00:10 IN PICTURES / Olympians display their body art 00:26 Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer leads master class for N.Y. children 21:32 Life of top television presenter threatened, possibly by 'psychic' interviewee 22:28 Jordan urges world to press Israel to halt E. Jerusalem excavations 02:09 Israeli terror victims sue Chinese bank for funding Hamas, Islamic Jihad 19:47 Israel removes West Bank roadblock outside Ramallah 01:08 Happy birthday, Mr. President! Peres marks his 85th with trip to Negev Previous Editions Select Day 21 aug 20 aug 19 aug 18 aug 17 aug 15 aug 14 aug 13 aug 12 aug 11 aug 10 aug 08 aug

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