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Last update - 10:01 06/09/2006
Bye Bye Kadima
By Moshe Arens

Soon it will be time to say good-bye to Kadima, this incongruous political party that, like a flash in a pan, suddenly appeared on the Israeli political scene, brandishing a single issue platform - disengagement, unilateral withdrawal, convergence, realignment, or whatever else you want to call it - claiming that this was the panacea for all of Israel's ills, and a recipe for the existence of Israel as a "democratic Jewish state" that would become "a fun place to live in." Nothing resembling this phenomenon has ever been seen on the Israeli political scene, or for that matter in other democratic countries.

Spin doctors and snake-oil salesmen succeeded in marketing it to much of the Israeli public. It will surely be fertile ground for future doctoral dissertations in political science and mass psychology. There have been new-born parties that appeared at election time, here and elsewhere, but they have never before succeeded in winning an election. The time is approaching - better sooner rather than later - when this party will leave the political scene. What began as a political "big bang" will be going out as a whimper. Curtain time is approaching for Kadima.

This party is composed of chameleon-like politicians, renegades from the Likud and rejects from Labor, in addition to some naive novice politicians who believed there was nothing more noble than answering Sharon's call to enlist in the cause of disengagement. Unilateral withdrawals served as the common ideological denominator for the men and women on Kadima's Knesset list. That, in addition to the public opinion polls predicting a great victory for Kadima in the elections, and the knowledge that by a wave of the hand by Sharon or Olmert, without having to electioneer among the non-existent rank and file of the Kadima party, they would be assured of a seat in the Knesset. Now that the concept of unilateral withdrawals, in Lebanon and Gaza, has been exposed as a no-brainer for all to see, and the leaders of Kadima - Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni - have been shown to be incompetent to fill leadership positions in times of crisis, the only question that remains is how much longer Kadima will hang in there and continue to lead Israel at this crucial time.
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There is the possibility that some of the Likud renegades in Kadima, rueing the day on which they decided to throw in their lot with that ill-starred political creation, will return to the ranks of the Likud. And that some of the Labor rejects, now eating humble pie, will be mercifully accepted into the ranks of Labor. And that a politically reshuffled Knesset will bring down the Olmert government and vote confidence in a new prime minister and his government. Or else, perish the thought, new elections. This political uncertainty is painful to contemplate at a time when Israel faces a most serious crisis, which is the direct result of the Olmert government's handing Hezbollah a victory in Lebanon. Voices, silent for many years, are being heard in the Arab world that Hezbollah has now again demonstrated that it is possible to defeat Israel by the use of force. It is a relatively short distance between this conviction and aggressive action against Israel. Some advocates of the Olmert government already argue that just because of the approaching danger, the Olmert government should remain in power so that it will manage the coming crisis without wasting any time. That would be a grave error. Israel can certainly not afford another mistake like the mismanaged Lebanon war.

But wait a minute, we hear some commentators saying. This leadership is surely a bad lot, and they certainly made a mess of the war in Lebanon, but there is nobody better around. "The cupboard is bare," as one of them wrote. To them, and to the Israeli public in general, I would suggest that they concentrate their thoughts on the following questions: Is there really no better candidate for the position of prime minister than Ehud Olmert? Is there really no better candidate for the position of defense minister than Amir Peretz? Is there no better candidate for the position of foreign minister than Tzipi Livni? Is there no better candidate for the position of finance minister than Avraham Hirchson? And one could continue with these questions almost down the entire Cabinet list.

We all know the answers to these questions. The only question that remains is whether a coalition can be put together in the present Knesset which will support a new government that will field better men or women in these key positions. Nobody but the most cynical politicians will deny that this is the call of the hour. Is it a vain hope that such cynical politicians do not constitute a majority of Knesset members at this time?
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  1.   Mr. Arens, I hope you`re right, and would YOU taake the reins? 10:32  |  Yaakov K. 06/09/06
  2.   Moshe and Arens know, I don`t 10:36  |  Ernst 06/09/06
  3.   Moshe and Arens know, I don`t 10:36  |  Ernst 06/09/06
  4.   Yaakov is right 10:57  |  PS 06/09/06
  5.   The real question! 11:20  |  Pinchas David 06/09/06
  6.   Bibi Natenyahu is the Answer 11:21  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 06/09/06
  7.   arens knows 11:25  |  2muchsinaigolan 06/09/06
  8.   again - bad analysis of the war. 11:43  |  jutha 06/09/06
  9.   OLMERT LIVES IN A STATE OF DENIAL CALLED ISRAEL 12:27  |  Knave Dave 06/09/06
  10.   Was Kadiam rise a sign of primitivity of Israeli electorate 12:43  |  Kasia P. 06/09/06
  11.   The whole system stinks 13:01  |  Zev 06/09/06
  12.   Names? Here`s a few 13:13  |  Gary 06/09/06
  13.   Mr. Arens is right: They MUST GO!!! 13:27  |  Rachel 06/09/06
  14.   But not hello Likud 13:29  |  sh 06/09/06
  15.   BIBI IS the next prime minister 13:29  |  Sherry 06/09/06
  16.   A new government and fast 13:39  |  Fred 06/09/06
  17.   kadima is a result of the disengagement 13:39  |  dierre 06/09/06
  18.   bye bye 14:10  |  J. B. 06/09/06
  19.   sh -- So what are your solutions? 14:22  |  Ovadiah ben Avraham 06/09/06
  20.   #2,3 Moshe Arens, not "Moshe and Arens" 14:29  |  Yaakov K. 06/09/06
  21.   The post zionist left is dangerous 14:33  |  Naomi 06/09/06
  22.   #5 -- How could Israelis (etc.)? Easily! 14:37  |  Yaakov K. 06/09/06
  23.   #6 - and the question was what, who to elect as dog-catcher? 14:42  |  Yaakov K. 06/09/06
  24.   Kasia P (Post No. 10) 14:44  |  Johnny Weintraub 06/09/06
  25.   #11 14:44  |  Yaakov K. 06/09/06
  26.   Mr Arens ideas are irrelevant and wrong 15:03  |  Louisd 06/09/06
  27.   Bye Bye Kadima 15:14  |  Benjamin Saidel 06/09/06
  28.   Nethanyahu PM 15:19  |  Alfred Brodner 06/09/06
  29.   Kadima goes A`hora 15:36  |  Ben Jabo 06/09/06
  30.   Kadima - Utter Failure 15:42  |  Jane 06/09/06
  31.   I HOPE EFFI EITAM TAKES OVER WHEN KADIMA FALLS. 16:08  |  YES TO EFFI EITAM 06/09/06
  32.   A Media Creation 16:19  |  Buzaglo 06/09/06
  33.   Re: Names? Here`s a few 16:30  |  Gary 06/09/06
  34.   Arens is right 16:57  |  Brod 06/09/06
  35.   Bye Bye Kadima 16:58  |  Ralph 06/09/06
  36.   #9: Denial runs through Hawaii, too 17:02  |  Paul Freedman 06/09/06
  37.   Good Riddance Kadima 17:25  |  Natasha 06/09/06
  38.   There are better leaders 17:31  |  the cohen brother 06/09/06
  39.   Time for ARENS, LANDAU, maybe BENNY BEGIN... MEN OF CHARACTER!!! 18:03  |  bat yam 06/09/06
  40.   Kadima is KaDone 18:20  |  Chaim Gorenstein 06/09/06
  41.   Please Moseh...PLEASE!!! 18:40  |  dave 06/09/06
  42.   Bye Bye Kadima - but when will they GO....? 18:52  |  gizelle 06/09/06
  43.   Who`s to Lead these broken people.... 19:17  |  Dagma 06/09/06
  44.   Zev #11 is right - Direct Accountability!!! 19:41  |  Mosheh Wolfish 06/09/06
  45.   Dagma on broken people 20:03  |  sh 06/09/06
  46.   What Moshe Arens really wants 20:30  |  Mario 06/09/06
  47.   OLMERT SHOULD RESIGN 22:41  |  MAJOR DANI 06/09/06
  48.   Netanyahu as PM as soon as possible !!! 23:43  |  myron 06/09/06
  49.   Kadima = a party for opportunits 23:43  |  AbsolutPurple 06/09/06
  50.   Olmert will never resign voluntarily. 00:15  |  Dr. Ari Nir 07/09/06
  51.   kadima 00:25  |  rico 07/09/06
  52.   A New Idea 02:35  |  Gomer 07/09/06
  53.   An End to Bipartisan Parties 03:30  |  Efox 07/09/06
  54.   peace for ever 07:20  |  peter 07/09/06
  55.   #36 Denial runs through Hawaii 07:32  |  Knave Dave 07/09/06
  56.   We need leaders with Gravitas 13:09  |  Dror 08/09/06
  57.   Moshe Feiglin 14:19  |  Arden 17/09/06
  58.   Isreal only lost this war due to attrocities 23:21  |  Michael Bernstein 17/09/06
  59.   BYE BYE KADIMA 17:11  |  joseph kiss 04/03/08
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