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The Winograd Report and Israel's Political Situation

Yesterday's release of the interim Winograd Report likely spells the end of Ehud Olmert's tenure as prime minister and hopefully the beginning of the end for the artificial Kadima party. Even if Olmert avoids pressure to resign and is not otherwise forced out of office, the final Winograd report, scheduled to be released this summer, will probably finish him off.

As much as I dislike Olmert and Kadima, I have very mixed feelings about the manner in which their downfall is occurring. Governments make mistakes which are easy to lambast in hindsight.

Are independent commissions of inquiry appropriate after national failures? If so, should the United States have examined who was to blame for the series of failures on and leading to 9/11? Should there be an inquiry into our idiotic Iraq adventure?

I happen to think the answers to these questions are yes, and that the U.S. could learn from Israel in this regard. Serious examination of failure is essential to prevent the same mistakes from recurring.

However, to avoid independent inquiries getting mixed up in politics, I believe it to be inappropriate for inquiries to result in the downfall of an elected government.

In any event, if Olmert does resign, or if he is forced out by Kadima, it would be farcical for him to be replaced by foreign minister Tzipi Livni of Kadima. Unlike Olmert, who Israelis foolishly elected to be the leader, Livni has no such mandate.

Friends of Israel must now hope that a modicum of sanity returns to the political arena there. Israel would be best suited to have a national election with Likud and Labor as the main two party candidates. While I happen to hope that Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu is the next PM, I also hope that Labor elects Ami Ayalon over Ehud Barak as its leader. Barak has already failed as prime minister, having been forced to resign without the need for a national inquiry. Despite my strong disagreements with Ayalon's dovish political stance, he would hopefully bring a breath of fresh air to Israel's polluted and increasingly corrupt political system.
posted on 5/01/2007