Be careful what you wish for. That just might be a watchword for either side of the Israeli political spectrum in the coming weeks and months. Somewhere between 100,000 and 250,000 people (depending upon whose estimates you read) showed up at Kikar Rabin tonight to demand that PM Olmert resign in the wake of the preliminary Winograd commission report.
Olmert's opponents are using the report as a launching pad for their campaign to oust him, and I have no problem with that but, seriously, did the report really tell anyone anything they didn't already know? Other than details, facts and figures? Yes, it's crucial to document those things and the report is and will be a very valuable tool in assessing what went wrong and how to prevent it in the future, but the fact that Olmert and company messed up big time last summer is not exactly a news flash.
And who, by the way, is behind this united front to get rid of Olmert? The quick answer is this guy. But you might better ask, who isn't? Those of us who lean to the right tend to support the effort, naturally. But so, it appears, do those who lean to the left. Well, some of them, at least.
Popular author Meir Shalev probably got a mixed reaction from the crowd to this remark:
This is what war looks like when the IDF is busy at checkpoints and guarding illegal outposts.
But Peace Now is denounced the rally, suddenly worried about the lack of "an alternative" to Olmert. Odd. They've never been worried about the lack of "an alternative" to "the occupation."
And, somewhere toward the other end of the spectrum, right-wing activist Baruch Marzel also told his supporters to stay away.
According to Marzel, "[Maj.-Gen. (res.)] Uzi Dayan, who is organizing the rally at Rabin Square, takes exactly the same approach as [Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert and [Defense Minister Amir] Peretz."
But, according to One Jerusalem, Effi Eitam also addressed the rally. And -- get this -- Eitam and Yossi Beilin, of all people, published a joint op-ed, via the front page of this morning's edition of Ma'ariv, in support of the rally. Strange bedfellows, indeed.
So if Olmert leaves (and it appears inevitable that, sooner rather than later, he will) who will take his place? That's the $64,000 question, and the answer is really murky. Omri has thoughts. Of course. On an ongoing basis, so visit often.
