Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., October 31, 2007 Cheshvan 19, 5768 | | Israel Time: 02:49 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Print Edition Diplomacy Defense Arts & Leisure Real Estate Jewish World National Advertising Magazine Week's End Business Opinion Rosner's Domain Anglo File Books Travel

del.icio.us Digg It!  new Half a cure By Daniel Ben Simon Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made an important contribution to the health of Israeli politics yesterday when he faced the nation and announced his illness. Of all the tidings a leader can bring to his citizens, exposing an illness may be the hardest. The public can handle difficult decisions; it can protest for or against war, for or against peace. But what can it do about a leader's illness? How does it deal with that? In a brave revelation unprecedented in these parts, Olmert opted to preempt the rumor mill in a country where rumors are quick to take on lives of their own. Had he chosen to keep his illness a secret, some anonymous source would have leaked it. The prime minister would have been damaged by the media reports, and the public would have lost even more of its confidence in both the current political leadership and politicians in general. Leaders usually hide their illnesses from the public, knowing that the public, if it knew about them, would seek to distance them from matters of state for fear that the illness could affect their performance. Had the late prime minister Menachem Begin's mental health issues been known, it is unlikely the public would have rushed to follow his leadership as it did. His political opponents would have delegitimized the daring withdrawal from Sinai and kept him from signing a peace agreement with Egypt by arguing that he was acting under the influence of mental illness. Advertisement Had Begin revealed the manic depression from which he suffered, it is unlikely the public would have granted him such broad credit going into the first Lebanon War. In the year after the war, Begin progressively deteriorated, until he finally begged to be allowed to go home. Astonishingly, cabinet ministers and parliamentarians, despite knowing of his physical and emotional deterioration, fell to their knees and begged him to continue to rule. Instead of allowing him to seclude himself with his depression and sorrow, those opportunistic politicians preferred their own good and that of the party over the good of the nation. Something similar happened with former prime minister Ariel Sharon. His associates knew already in the summer of 2005 that he was extended to the max. The heroic battle he waged to implement the disengagement from Gush Katif and his physical deterioration weakened him. Even after Sharon's first hospitalization, his entire health situation was not revealed to the public. At that time, his party Kadima was embarking on a new political path, and none of Sharon's associates wanted to give up the electoral asset that Sharon represented. Public identification with its ailing leader was documented by the fact that after his first hospitalization, polls showed Kadima garnering 50 Knesset seats. Had Sharon's associates cared only about his personal welfare, they would apparently have kept him from returning to the Prime Minister's Office after his first hospitalization. The speed with which they returned him to political life sealed his fate. His doctors, too, presumably realized that he was incapable of returning to work at full capacity and leading the most complicated nation in the world. Soon afterward, Sharon fell into a coma, and the public discovered that the full truth had been kept from it. Thus Olmert's revelation of his illness is a worthy public deed. The public will appreciate his honesty and follow his expected recovery with interest and concern, as the French did at the end of Francois Mitterand's term. The day Mitterand ended the rumors and whisperings about his cancer, he won the public's complete sympathy. His confession of the illness touched their hearts, and they identified with his pain and prayed for him. It is too early to tell how the illness will affect Olmert's continued political performance. But the fact that he shared it with the public is already almost half a cure for his political situation. Bookmark to del.icio.us China, Israel diverge With Livni in Beijing, China rejects Israel's call for tougher sanctions against Iran. Amending aliyah Interior Minister Sheetrit says Jews should not be granted automatic Israeli citizenship.   1.   his conduct is adisgrace for the chief representative of israel 09:43  |  victor hardman 30/10/07   2.   Re Hardman #1 10:42  |  Esther 30/10/07   3.   Please step down and recover 11:05  |  Joseph 30/10/07   4.   Agree with the article! 11:17  |  J.M.Jordan 30/10/07   5.   Lebanese Jomblaat Zombraat has cancer 11:40  |  Tamir Palestine 30/10/07   6.   #2 esther aappear from behind the looking glass! 12:02  |  victor hardman 30/10/07   7.   Much ado about not much 12:29  |  Yehudit 30/10/07   8.   health confessions and `political cures`? 13:47  |  michael cohen 30/10/07   9.   Menachem Begin z"l 14:14  |  Johnny Weintraub 30/10/07   10.   Yehudit (Post No.7) 14:20  |  Johnny Weintraub 30/10/07   11.   Olmert did a right move,but... 14:35  |  Hastaroth 30/10/07   12.   #8 Kudos to Michael Cohen, Much Adou about nothing 15:17  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 30/10/07   13.   Announcing an illness is not enough 16:00  |  Zev 30/10/07   14.   Talking about Olmert... ! 17:10  |  Atilla 30/10/07   15.   Will he go for the Full Lyndon `Bounce"? 17:56  |  Mark Lincoln 30/10/07   16.   Not such good news 18:18  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 30/10/07   17.   yeah poor olmert 19:19  |  JL 30/10/07   18.   Margie in Tel Aviv 19:23  |  Connie 30/10/07   19.   Nice gesture. Doesn`t change the fact he`s unfit to govern. 20:25  |  Chaim 30/10/07

Today Online Bradley Burston: It's Judeo-Fascism Month in the state of Israel Responses: 116 IDF's tactical upper hand over Hamas in Gaza is diminishing Responses: 161 PA negotiator: No talks without timeline for Palestinian state Responses: 69 Moshe Arens: What the Qassams are costing Israel Responses: 86 Druze MK demands top cop's dismissal over Galilee clash Responses: 74 More Headlines 02:31 Security guard killed, 5 hurt in T.A. nightclub shootout 23:48 IDF strikes kill four Hamas men, wound 3 civilians 21:21 Druze MK demands top cop's dismissal over Galilee clash 18:43 Sheetrit: Jews should not be granted automatic Israeli citizenship 23:44 Egypt police: Gazans caught in tunnel members of Army of Islam 02:00 Prague again bans neo-Nazi march through Jewish quarter 22:45 EU urges Israel to reconsider cuts in energy supply to Gaza 16:08 China rejects Israel's call for tougher sanctions against Iran 17:24 PA negotiator: No talks without timeline for Palestinian state 22:12 Islamic Jihad: Syria 'anti-summit' postponed until Annapolis date set Previous Editions Select Day 30 oct 29 oct 28 oct 26 oct 25 oct 24 oct 23 oct 22 oct 21 oct 19 oct 18 oct 17 oct

Special Offers Advertisement learn Hebrew online with israel's best teachers. Sign up for a trial lesson today Invest in Macedonia New Business Heaven in Europe Long-term Israel programs MASA is your gateway. More programs. More grants. Eldan Rent a Car Israel's leading car rental company offers you a 20% discount on all online reservations JOIN FREE AT JDATE.COM The most popular online Jewish dating community in the world! Explore the possibilities! Click Here! Dead Sea Salt Beauty and skin care from the Dead Sea. Coupon code HAARETZ for 10% off! Junkyard Junk a car - get free towing nationwide and a tax-deductible receipt. Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza Israel Lowest internet rate Guaranteed at ichotelsgroup.com !

Home | TV | Print Edition | Diplomacy | Opinion | Arts & Leisure | Sports | Jewish World | Underground | Site rules |

© Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved