Low Approval Ratings Undermine Olmert Plea for Peace
| By Keith - Nov 27th, 2006 at 12:42 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
Today's NYTimes leads with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plea for peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
While Olmert appears serious about peace, there is reason to doubt Olmert's plea--even if sincere--can be sold to the Israeli public, let alone to Palestinians.
The NYTimes does not dwell on Olmert's low popularity within Israel or the slipping support of the Kadima party he leads. As the reported by the International Herald Tribune, a recent poll put Olmert's approval rating at an anemic 20 percent.
Three days ago, Reuters also reported on a recent poll putting the Kadima party Olmert's leads behind Benjamin Netanyahu's more hard-line Likud party.
Olmert's unpopularity comes in large part from the botched Israeli military incursion into Lebanon earlier this year that he approved. (Link to Olmert's political history and role in the Lebanon invasion)
Could Olmert be giving peace a chance to gain a chance at the polls?
But even if this cynical reading of Olmert's proposal is unfounded (and I think it is), an important question remains: is Olmert in any position to conclude a high-stakes peace agreement with Palestine?
While Olmert appears serious about peace, there is reason to doubt Olmert's plea--even if sincere--can be sold to the Israeli public, let alone to Palestinians.
The NYTimes does not dwell on Olmert's low popularity within Israel or the slipping support of the Kadima party he leads. As the reported by the International Herald Tribune, a recent poll put Olmert's approval rating at an anemic 20 percent.
Three days ago, Reuters also reported on a recent poll putting the Kadima party Olmert's leads behind Benjamin Netanyahu's more hard-line Likud party.
Olmert's unpopularity comes in large part from the botched Israeli military incursion into Lebanon earlier this year that he approved. (Link to Olmert's political history and role in the Lebanon invasion)
Could Olmert be giving peace a chance to gain a chance at the polls?
But even if this cynical reading of Olmert's proposal is unfounded (and I think it is), an important question remains: is Olmert in any position to conclude a high-stakes peace agreement with Palestine?
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And Hasn't anyone heard about the Israel attacks on Gaza refugee camps lately? Or about the use of cluster bombs in Lebanon? Or, for that matter, the daily expansion of settlements in the West Bank? These are not the actions of a peace-seeking state.
Olmert is a decent man from a good and decent country, one that for all its faults responds far better to the incessant provocations from its wretched neighbors than America ever would.
Let's hope he pulls this one off.