Political Animal / Whom I wouldn't vote for
There is nothing wrong with doing business and making a profit, but we expect someone with a great deal of wealth, like Barak, to show a great deal of concern for his subjects as well.
By Yossi Sarid1. Not for Barak. I wouldn't vote for Ehud Barak. I happen to believe him when he says he's changed, but it's not necessarily for the better. If once we knew about his passion for cheap watches, which he would take apart and reassemble, and then take apart again, today he has a passion for time itself, precious time from his point of view, because time is money. During the past six years, since he was first exiled from the premiership, he has earned about NIS 30 million, as reported by Gidi Weitz and Uri Blau last week in Haaretz Magazine.
Al Gore also became free that same year, 2001, when he lost the presidency to George W. Bush, although he received more votes. Conspiracies in Florida and strategems in Washington stole the birthright from him. Gore refuses to become immersed in the past and in depression, refuses to become mired in the injustice done to him and refuses to run again, to the disappointment of millions of supporters. Since the defeat, he has been doing less for his personal benefit and more for the entire village, the global village. Instead of seeking a second chance for himself, he is seeking the last chance for the planet: If we don't make an urgent effort to reverse climate change, the world will return to chaos.
During his long campaign, Gore has not been selling himself with the help of public relations people. He is selling the inhabitants of the world an alarm bell with a lantern of hope, in one kit. And he is doing all this - free, concerned and happy - without putting a dollar into his own pocket. He donates all the income from his film, his new book and his hundreds of lectures to environmental organizations; if only we had an Al Gore.
Barak, when he became free, could also have devoted himself voluntarily to lofty issues - he didn't have to run away. He could have devoted himself to education, to abandoned citizens in the north and south of the country, during times of peace and times of war; he could have cared for the old woman in the hospital corridor, who has long since died alone in her home, and whose body was found with an empty basket of medications at her head. There is nothing wrong with doing business and making a profit, but we expect someone with a great deal of wealth like Barak to show a great deal of concern for his subjects as well. Because how will his subjects know that he has really changed, that he really cares? There's no need to overdo it, of course, but he could have wasted one hour a week, only one hour, for heaven's sake, in a school in Sderot or a hospital in Nahariya.
He preferred, though, to open doors to kosher and less-kosher business deals, as though he were a guard at a nightclub or a brawny doorman at the Akirov Towers. And he collected a commission for his labors, a nice tip.
Weitz and Blau also report on a special device in his office, which "regulates the temperature of cigars," and thus preserves them. I managed to look into this and to learn something: Every good cigar, like good wine, has its own optimal storage temperature. Here comes the cigar coalition: Olmert, Bibi and Barak are like Indian chiefs, who smoke together, but their common pipe is not necessarily one of peace; and we are the Indians. And one doesn't threaten Barak's supporters with a cigarette belonging to Bibi, and vice versa.
Barak headquarters refuses to submit a report about his business activities, claiming the right to privacy. He wants support, but refuses to give an account for the sake of transparency and disclosure. His headquarters even "expresses surprise that Weitz and Blau's article does not deal with the business and international activity of additional candidates." And that is an accusation typical of those caught red-handed - it's not only me, it's them too. An entire world, an underworld of the top 1000th percentile, makes a living from this accusation.
A close personal friend of Barak, former deputy defense minister Weizman Shiri, speaks in his defense: "I prefer a prime minister who comes to the job not hungry. Who comes with financial security, and with the knowledge that nobody can entice him with all kinds of favors." When the silence of Ehud B. is thundering, his muses are also silent and thundering, and there is no doubt that Weizman Shiri is a muse.
I don't even want to think about Barak's first candidacy, before he made his big money, when he was still hungry and prey to temptations and favors. Who knows what went on there, in the office, behind closed doors, even before Barak began to open doors. And I don't want to think what will happen in a second term, when all business friends come calling and the smoke of their cigars fills the room; who will be able to see the fire through the smoke; who will see what package was included there in the handshake.
Were I the state comptroller I would already start to prepare; I'd roll up my sleeves and sharpen my pencils. After Olmert will come Barak or Bibi, and there will be a lot of work. Experience teaches that these hungry people are never satisfied. Bibi continues to compensate himself for a deprived childhood in an ostracized Revisionist home, and Barak will continue to compensate himself for the deprivations of a sensitive child in the kibbutz, who slept in a children's house.
2. And not for Sarkozy. I would not have voted for Nicolas Sarkozy for the presidency of France. Leaders who come down hard on the weak, on minorities and immigrants, are not my glass of champagne; nor are those who are pushing Turkey out of the European Union and into the arms of Islamic extremism; nor are presidents and prime ministers who hang out with billionaires and spend their vacations on their yachts.
But for now, Sarkozy is proving to be a pleasant surprise. He was just elected, and he is already changing the face of France and breathing new life into it. After running against a woman, Segolene Royal, and defeating her, he has appointed seven women as ministers. There has never been such a thing in France, which only 60 years ago gave women the right to vote, and where only about 14 percent of the members of the National Assembly are women.
And another thing: His new cabinet includes 15 ministers in all, the smallest cabinet since World War II. And something else: His justice minister, the first French Muslim minister in the history of France, is a woman named Rachida Dati, whose father Mubarak came from Morocco and whose mother Fatima came from Algeria; Dati has seven sisters and four brothers.
And one more thing: Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is one of the leaders of the defeated Socialist party, the founder of Doctors Without Borders (Medicins Sans Frontieres) and one of the more popular politicians in the country; the French revolution is in full swing.
Here, though, as we know, there is nothing new - what was is what is, only worse. Suppose that the Second Lebanon War had not broken out, and suppose that the finance minister had not resigned, and suppose that no investigations had been initiated into the activities of the prime minister and many of his colleagues, and suppose that the government's helplessness in the face of Qassams and Katyushas had not been exposed - let's keep on supposing again and again - even then the Olmert government would be an embarrassing one: It is fat and overblown beyond any necessity - 25 ministers. France is governed by 15, and here even 25 are insufficient.
Israel's 31st government has almost no minister who is suited to his position in terms of abilities and experience, and most of them were chosen because of personal, party or coalition commitments. The result is a nondescript and undistinguished group.
People are elected to the premiership in order to make changes, to repair things, and the first 100 days are also the last 100 days if, instead of seizing the mission by the horns, one takes hold of the altar instead. That is how to create a government, as in France; and that is how not to create a government, as in Israel.
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I was present during a meeting in honour of those who helped in the hard work to get Barak elected last time. Barak was expected at 21.00 hours and kept the people waiting until 23.00 hours, all hard working people, without a word of apology for the delay. A man that has so little regard for the citizens that helped to have him elected does not deserve to be elected again.
While Al gore is worthy of admiration for his commitment to our planet, let's not go over board in praising him for donating money made from his documentary. This man is independently wealthy. In fact, the Gore family continues to make significant money on oil investments.
MR. SARID : A FAILING ELECTORAL SYSTEM ,IS THE REAL DANGER TO ISRAELS FUTURE ! ISRAEL CAN RECOVER ONLY WHEN ITS ELECTORAL CORRUPT SYSTEM WILL CHANGE,AND ONLY WHEN THE RELIGIOUS /ORTHODOX ELEMENT WILL BE OUT OF THE POLITICAL ARENA. THE PROPORTIONAL SYSTEM "DONATES" THE WORST HUMAN ELEMENTS TO ISRAELI POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT ,You Mr. Sarid ,are the exception to the rule. THE REAL DECISION MAKERS ARE "MERCAZEI MIFLAGOT"AND "VAADOT MESADROT."..WITCH PREVENT QUALITY ISRAELIS TO ENTER POLITICS. Not one official on the national level is elected directly, which means no elected official owes any obligation to the Israeli public. His loyalty is solely to his party. The voters choose the party, which has already chosen the candidates?. who will serve in the Knesset. The vote is purely with no electoral districts. THE RELIGIOUS PARTIES USE THE SYSTEM TO GAIN POWER ,AND BLOCK PROGRESS ON DOMESTIC, OR, PEACE INITIATIVES. Only when you HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE POLITICAL PROCESS YOU will be able to PUNISH YOUR ELECTED MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT ! BUT TODAY ?? BETTER QUALITY OF ISRAELIS WOULD VENTURE INTO POLITICS IF THE SYSTEM WOULD CHANGE!! THE PROBLEM WITH THE POLITICAL ESTABLISHMENT IS THAT THEY LIKE THE CURRENT SYSTEM,,, The Israeli public is absolutely irrelevant to Israeli political life. .Such a system is prone to corruption.Unresponsive electoral system has crucial implications for the shattered peace process and regional stability. MANY OF US LEFT ISRAEL DISILLUSIONED AND MANY WOULD RETURN HOME , BUT NOT TO THIS ?TRAP? AGAIN. PLEASE DON'T TELL ME TO RETURN AND FIGHT INSIDE,,I TRIED AND THE SYSTEM WON !!! YOU SHOULD LEAD A ? PASSIVE ?NO ?VOTE , REVOLUTION? AND YOU WILL HAVE MY SUPPORT, BOTH FINANCIAL AND MORAL. AFTER ALL YOU PLAYED THE SYSTEM...YOU KNOW BETTER !
Yes, Israel needs a De Gaulle. He solved the Algerian problem in two years. Painfully, I agree. More than one million persons had to be repatriated. But he knew the law of numbers : there would have been more Muslims than everybody else in France now if he had not done it. Israel should find a leader willing and able to take the same kind of decision. In the end, Israel would be in a much better shape.
Gore did not win the 2000 election, and I say this with the full knowledge that he gained a slight majority over Bush in the popular voting. How could this be? Simple, The United States is a republic, not a democracy and the method set up for electing Presidents involves winning the electoral college, not the popular vote. The courts, and the record clearly shows that Bush won Florida (and thus the Electoral College). Gore had his opportunity in a fair election and then he also had his day in court. He lost, but he was not "robbed". If Americans dislike the electoral college system, they are free to change it. However, since the electoral college is the system that is used, then it is unbelievable sour grapes by Gore supporters to say he was "robbed" when in reality he received the outcome the system predicted he would receive. I think the author of this article would be well served to follow Gore's lead on this topic because the way he handled it displayed true statesmanship.
Yossi Sarid is a legion in his own mind. If he was Prime Minister there would be no State of Israel to talk about. His complete theory of appeasement is so off balance with reality...I would suggest he get a rocking chair and shut up.
I am waiting for just one, just one, great Palestnian leader to arise. I suspect I shall be still waiting when already in my grave.
Dear Sarid : For your information. Gore has made millions since he left public life - he is the darling of the phoney-baloney limosine liberals, and they have provided him opportunity after opportunity, and he has taken advantage. Also, he makes big bucks on speaking engagements - for example, he collected $600k for a sickening speech in Saudi Arabia, during which he falsely accused the U.S. of unfair treatment of Arab - Americans . ( The Saudis wanted him to talk about Israeli oppression/aggression, etc, but he said that it was not the right time (perhaps, if they doubled or tripled the fee, he would have accomodated them)). As for Sarkozy, of course, you are happy that Sarkozy appointed the most ant-Israeli FM in French history, and, boy, that is no small accomplishment. Lastly, it is touching that you are so concerned with Jew hating Muslim thugs - Yossi,in the words of the Jew despising gentiles, for whom you are so concerned, you are a "good Jew."
Sarid's comparisons are ludicrous. Gore came from a rich family, of course he can contribute his time for free. Sarid thinks Gore is some kind of a socialist humanist who lives a modest life. What a joke. Gore lives in a giant estate, is a board member of Apple computer, and his electric bill is bigger than Sarid's salary. As for Sarkozy - of course he chose a great cabinet. He has no outside pressures. An elected president in France has almost absolute power over his cabinet, unlike the Israeli system where an elected prime minister has to choose a union organizer for a defense minister, with disasterous results. It's interesting that in his desperation, left wing Sarid is falling in love with rich blue bloods (Gore) and right wing strong leaders - Sarkozy.
People need to vote for candidates and proposals that benefit them instead of what they think benefits society at large lest the vote amounts to nothing more than an opinion poll. By voting for your own interets what emerges is a true consesus of what is actually in society's best interets and not mere elitist conjecture.
A proven, honest leader who would provide good leadership.
does he have a snowball's chance of being elected?he is quite brilliant.i like his plans for leaving iraq forthwith.
but i too have a problem with his financial activities when he left office. israel is differenr from the usa in that the civilian population is closely involved in the war.it is not pleasant to see barak doing his thing while kids of school age serving in the idf are being killed. in a different time money making is to be lauded.
you are not qualified to judge barak.
why i thought you would never ask.he is to be found in texas and his name is ron paul the republicam congressman. he will get you out of the mess that is iraq.and he is a libetarian.whats not to like?
Thomas, I think most people in Israel want to end occupation if it meant peace. It does not matter what Haniyeh says or Abbas...it is what they DO. They need to enforce the law and stop the terror.. They have to accept the Quartet conditions which mean...renounce violence, recognize the right of Israel to exist (within smaller borders), and to abide by all previous treaties with Pali Authority. That would mean more to start the negotiation and prove that they do not intend to get a strangle hold on Israel through withdrawal and then "drive them into the sea". Most of the bashers cannot or will not try to see BOTH sides and points of view. Cheers.
Find me one of these politicians that goes beyond.Not in Israel and not anywhere else.To find a Statesman is almost impossible. If Prime Ministers and Presidents make $47,000 Statesman should me 100 times that much but where are they? We actually wonder where all the geniuses went and why is it so difficult? There are so many mavens on Talkback they are almost a dime a dozen....
Ehud Barak may have been a brave soldier, but unfortunately a good soldier doesn't always make a good PM. Judging from several interviews I have seen, he just lacks a certain seriousness it would take in order to make peace with Israels neighbours. That's exactly why Swiss-Dino could never become Israeli PM. As much as he might wish for.
How much nonsense can be condensated in one single post? Millions are stolen by corrupted politicians and you ask what Sarid did with his salary as a kneset member? As for Sarid not having done a thing for Israel, even right wing politicians agree he was probably the best education minister the country ever had.Your post would be absurd if you lived in Israel. From Australia it is just indecent.
ISRAEL NEEDS DESMUND TUTU!
My suggestion that de Gaulle would have been the right guy to lead Israel out of the promised land was partly tongue-in-cheek. On the whole, I was not a big admirer of the great Frenchman. I simply meant that it will take a leader of very great capacity to accomplish that monstrously difficult feat. But the difficulty does not diminish my conviction that it must be done. I agree with you that such things must be "thought through". Where is such a leader to be found?
unfortunately haniyah is no geronimo and sitting bull. to give your word in the middle east does not mean much at all.if as you claim you have studied the region then you would surely know. how i love outsiders giving us their free advice.so generous.
we will send you this de gaulle clone since your problems in afghanistam and iraq are far bigger then ours. send this de gaulle clone to us when he finishes dealing with your huge problems. we will not need him for more the a few minutes.
Yossi Sarid would prefer to be PM on his own, or at least another "true believer in Marxism". If a true believer cannot be found, then a nominal rightist like Sharon or Olmert who can be blackmailed because of immersion in corruption. The scariest thing for Sarid, is a Jew with principles uncompromised by corruption
Yossi Sarid would prefer to be PM on his own, or at least another "true believer in Marxism". If a true believer cannot be found, then a nominal rightist like Sharon or Olmert who can be blackmailed because of immersion in corruption. The scariest thing for Sarid, is a Jew with principles uncompromised by corruption
That is what a large number of Americans are saying.
Sure De Gualle realized that the whole colonial business was soaking his country. He was also aware that having troops stationed from Ruanda to the Carribean and South East Asia was not in France's self interest. Not having these hundreds of thousands of soldiers based in France in 1939, lead to their occupation by Germany. But De Gaulle who is but a man, did not envision that opening the gates of France to Algerian laborers would lead to a frustrated and oh so Arab, Humiliated second generation burning French flags and torching thousands of cars in the Paris! As for Algeria, I would think that a large number of them during the latest civil war, were hiding petrified in their hovels, fearing a visit from a band of roaving Islamists and their chopping and dicing knife sets, or the army coming through the door. Over 250,000 dead Algerians and assorted foreign reporters, after a three year civil war. Freedom is nice, but it can get brutal when not thought through.
Youre absolutely right and it is the reason Pines-Paz is out of the labor race.Intelligence and honesty are not the key to success in israeli politics.
I must admit that Yossi has become more and more sympathetic since he has left politics. Furthermore he is right on many points. But he fails to address the real illness. Kadima had a certain sense as long as it was meant to serve the ideas of Arik Sharon. But without him, Kadima makes no sense at all, and it is not surprising that it lacks any political direction. Kadima should disappear from Israeli politics. The other illness is Labor. This party is still backing a government led by Kadima because the Labor Knesset members are afraid of new elections. Many of them would not be reelected, this is the simple truth. They try to expand the Kadima fiasco as long as necessary to secure their pensions. With this, they put their personal ambitions much over the interests of the country and its people. This is shameful. Would Yossi act differently?
Hamas was practically created by Shamir to weaken the P.L.O. Hamas won notelected because of his political stance but because Fatah was corrupted. Most of the palestinians understand Israel is here to stay! Ending the occupation means weakening Hamas not the opposite, on the condition it is not unilateral like Gaza or Lebanon, but negotiated.
THE NEXT ELECTION WILL GIVE LIKUD 60 SEATS OR MORE !AND FOR NATALLIE THE PEACE OF THE DAY AFTER A BATTLE IS WHERE IT WILL END . IT WILL ONLY COME AFTER THE ARABS REALISE THEY HAVE NO FUTURE AT ALL !!
Your post is misleading, perhaps unintentionally. I am aware of what the Hamas charter says. But here you need to distinguish between the Hamas leadership and splinter groups of young thugs and Islamist ideologues who often go their own way. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh has stated publicly many times that Hamas would honor any peace agreement with Israel signed by the PLO (the negotiating authority) and the PA. About a year ago he had an op-ed piece in The Washington Post, making that point crystal clear. It has been the policy of the Israeli government, apparently, to pretend that these conciliatory statements were never made. The Hamas leadership feels, rightly or wrongly, that it cannot remove these belligerent articles from its charter until AFTER satisfactory terms with the Jewish State of Israel have been agreed. Until then, it feels it must retain all rights of resistance to what it considers unjust expropriation of Palestinian lands. That's not so hard is it?
Yossi Sarid writes about General Ehud Barak earning money after leaving office, but not a word is said about the Clintons in the United States. All politicians use their connections to earn money after leaving office (except for Golda Meir and Menachem Begin, who were not interested in money.) As for Al Gore not winning the 2000 Presidential Election in the United States, the United States Supreme Court rendered a decision on this matter in a case styled Bush v. Gore. We have the rule of law in the United States, and the Supreme Court is exactly what its name and designation says that it is. The United States also has an electoral college system which protects the rights of voters in smaller states in the United States, which applies to presidential elections.
There's nothing wrong with being rich and it certainly shouldn't take politicians out of the running. Sarid neglects to mention that Gore is a very rich man who can afford to donate proceeds of his films and books to the causes he supports. Look at the States - at Bloomberg and other mega-millionaires who run for office at their own expense and do a good job for the people they serve. What's wrong with that? It only offends if you are still living in a past time when Israel was quasi-Socialist. It's not any more so move on.
Yossi so sad to read your words perfumed with boergoise jealousies. You had your kick at the can, and instead of rallying your mob, you chose to spit and scream at Shulamit Aloni, which led to the breakup of your little Meretz cult. Yossi you had your chance at athe Enviroment portfolio. I remember trying to get rid of a lead burning factory in Pardes Hana, but you were too busy travelling around the country on a media tour, sticking your head in gas station toilets and proclaiming that "they need cleaning". I met you once at a birthday party thrown for you by your admirers I shook your soft unworked hand, not a worker in site. You are a warlock of populist nonsense. Feeling for the little guy, detesting all the while their primitive thoughts and gestures. Your words are hollow. Shall I refresh your memory when after meeting with your buddy Arafat (may he stay dead), you informed the gaggle of reporters that you had urged him to hold out for more, good for you.
Yossi Sarid is getting very repetitive. Apart from himself he has nothing good to say about anyone. How much money did he make all those years as a chaver knesset and what did he do with his money? In fact, can anyone name one thing that he did for Israel?
Bibi is a lier and a cheater. He has no morals and to speak strong is not being strong. To believe so is being naïve. Tha admiration for demagogues is caracteristic of primitive third word populations.
I agree with you, we do have enough anti-semite people at the left.
if only sarid had a chance of leading israel ... it wouldn't make hamas go away .... we'd still be under existential threat ... but at least we'd be living a good pure life.
I couldn't agree more with Yossi Sarid . As far as I am concerned , Barak is burned out .I voted for him when he ran for the first time and was so terriblly disappointed with him that there is no way I would ever support him again . He is a very poor example of a kibbutz son .
Gee, Thomas, only a Texan can end the "occupation" of Mexican land--at least as the Mexicans see it. Of course you'll need Washington's approval. Don't like the idea of foreigners cutting up what you (rightfully) regard as YOUR land? We kinda feel the same way. Think about it.
It's a shame that enlightened people like Sarid are shunned by the Israeli populace, who instead prefer corrupt "strong" men like Sharon, Bibi and Barak. In Israel, might makes right, and this is the reason that it seems like things are getting worse and worse for Israel with every passing year. I think that if Sarid were prime-minister, in less than a year he would reverse all the mistakes of the past 40, by making peace with Israel's neighbors, and by effecting social justice on Israel's subjects. But, alas, decent people like Sarid are not considered prime minister material in Israel. That is part of the reason why Israel is not very well liked internationally.
Barak got out of Lebanon. Wanted to get out of the Golan and West Bank as well. About the results, better not talk about it. And De Gaule's grandiosity is NOT needed in Israel. By the way Thomas, the occupation IS indeed wrong, nothing new about it, but it is the result of a million factors including a permanent hate of Arabs against Israel, and the resulting situation is so horrendous that outside intervention may be required. But not from France...
occupation" MEANS "to destroy Israel". (If you don't velieve me, believe HAMAS' Charter: "Palestine should include all the LAND between TIVER (JORDAN) and SEA") De Gaulle had another siuation.
It really doesn't matter. Israeli politicians are swept along by events, greater than themselves. It has always been so. Maybe Rabin would have been different, maybe not, but for any Israeli politician to be remembered as great, it will be a peacemaker and not a warmaker. If Israel were to attack Iran, it will probably be remembered as the beginning of the end for Israel.
What Israel really needs is a strong American president, who can twist the arm of whoever sits in the prime minister's chair. A great piece though - interesting and thought-provoking.
It took a man of the strength and stature of Charles de Gaule to end the French colonial adventure in Algeria. Can Israel come up with such a leader to end the occupation? Sane people of the world, let's hope so!