Word: olmert
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...Nevertheless, not all is lost. There are many pragmatic figures in Israeli politics that can step forward in these uncertain times. Of course, at the moment when the entire nation is glued to the TV following every report from the hospital, it seems premature to discuss successors. However, Ehud Olmert, formally the mayor of Jerusalem, who as Sharon’s deputy, has assumed the role of acting prime minister, seems to have the support of many of his peers. He, like Sharon, seems to understand that both sides, the Palestinians and the Israelis, are in desperate need of peace...
...hoping to change that perception, and convince voters that he is Sharon's designated political heir, is acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Having been deputized by Sharon en route to the hospital - and being one of his closest political allies - Olmert quickly drew the Kadima leadership around himself. The former mayor of Jerusalem is also a three-decade political veteran from a family involved in Likud and its predecessor, Herut, since even before the creation of the State of Israel. Like Sharon, he is a longstanding hawk who has moved steadily towards the center, even winking at the left, over...
...Unlike Sharon, however, Olmert has none of the stricken leader's military and security credentials to shield him from attacks from the right. And his abrasive manner has earned him many enemies on both sides of Israel's ideological divide. Today, the acting prime minister is very much a centrist within the Kadima ranks. Olmert is not a particularly popular figure in Israel, but he is very ambitious - in 1999, he ran against Sharon in a primary for the Likud nomination for prime minister. Now, he'll stake his own claim for leadership by painting himself as the custodian...
...acting prime minister, Olmert has the advantage of incumbency, and he'll hope to make that an effective to winning the job on March 28. He can be expected to seek symbolic opportunities to claim the role of Sharon's designated political heir, such as seeking endorsement from the prime minister's sons. Olmert also sought to demonstrate continuity on Thursday first by convening a cabinet meeting in which Sharon's chair was left vacant, and then by receiving briefings from the heads of Israel's security services and calling Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to apprise him of developments...
...From the bottom of our hearts, we are sorry." EHUD OLMERT, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, apologizing to Egypt after tank soldiers on the border in Gaza shot and killed three Egyptian policeman they mistook for Palestinian militants...