Word: olmert
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...Jerusalem, it is the Jewish custom to fold written prayers inside the cracks of the Western Wall. Last night, after exit polls in the Israeli elections gave his centrist Kadima Party a slim lead over its rivals, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wedged his prayer between the stones. Translated from Hebrew, it said: "He who prays for my brother and friend I will speak peace...
...Some Israelis say that's because the three main candidates-Kadima?s Ehud Olmert, Likud?s Binyamin Netanyahu and Labor?s Amir Peretz-are all either uninspiring or distrusted. But the real reason may be that most Israelis consider the results to be a foregone conclusion. The latest polls give acting prime minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima party enough votes to clobber its rivals (though not enough for a majority); one weekend survey, conducted by the Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth, predicts that Kadima will win 36 Knesset seats, Labor 21, and Likud will end up a distant third with...
...truth is that no matter who wins, Israelis know their next prime minister will probably dispense some bitter medicine: a pullout of some Jewish settlements inside the Palestinian territories in exchange for permanent borders. Political analysts say Olmert - who inherited both the self-described centrist Kadima party and its main platform of "disengagement" from Ariel Sharon, still in a coma after a massive stroke last January - has tapped into a new pragmatism among Israeli voters. Co-existing with the Palestinians, especially with a government next door now run by Hamas, now seems an impossibility to most of them. A vote...
...taking office in 1996 by cutting subsidies for the big families of ultra-Orthodox Jews and by giving away part of Hebron to the Palestinians. This time around, Netanyahu tried to stop Kadima?s surge in the polls by scare-mongering about Palestinian terrorism and hurling personal insults against Olmert, but these tactics backfired. At best, Likud can hope to become a junior partner as part of a Kadima-led coalition, though most analysts believe Olmert will rebuff Bibi and choose Labor as his main coalition partner. In the meantime, Israelis may be clearing space on their bumpers for post...
...Lieberman says this is a giveaway of land that would only strengthen newly elected Hamas militants inside the Palestinian territories. Most political analysts dismiss this tough talk as electioneering, and say that if Olmert wins, as expected, he will probably coax Lieberman into the coalition. In that case, the eventual plan for disengaging with the Palestinians may end up being a compromise between the two proposals. Either way, it looks as though the next Israeli government will go ahead and draw up some kind of permanent boundaries - without consulting the Palestinians...