While the Galilee is quiet now, the attacks on the Sederot region in the Negev from Palestinian Kassam missiles fired from Gaza continue. A day spent in the area talking to a variety of people made it clear that faith in the government’s willingness to exercise its responsibility to protect its citizens is nonexistent.
For those who have never had a close-up look at the Nixonesque bunker mentality that appears to characterize Olmert’s grip on power as his poll ratings dip below even the margin of error itself, the gaffe about trauma was all too revealing.
Olmert is right when he speaks, as do other Israelis, of the nation’s resilience and ability to carry on despite cruel attacks by an unconventional enemy.
But if some great leaders of the past have minimized their people’s troubles in order to rally them for further sacrifices, the problem is that few, if any, here believe Olmert has the ability to deal with Hamasistan in Gaza, a powerless Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, a rearmed Hizbullah in the north, a potentially nuclear Iran or the change for the worse in the atmosphere in Washington for Israel that’s largely due to a lack of confidence in Olmert.
A man who prefers to consider the reality of his nation’s pain as unworthy of serious attention, who speaks of it as a plot against his political future rather than acknowledge it as a serious problem – who, if only by implication, denigrates a cause that Jews overseas have rightly prioritized and in which they have invested millions – is clearly out of touch.
Denial, as the old joke goes, is a river in Egypt. Unfortunately, it appears its source can be found in Israel, in the prime minister’s office.