Word: peretz
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...Olmert and Peretz have displayed a determiniation that was sorely lacking in previous governments," reads a front-page editorial this morning in the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma'ariv. That's significant praise, given the concerns within Israel that greeted the cabinet formed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert is clearly the man on the spot in the current outbreak of hostilities with Hizballah and the ongoing operations in Gaza. But perhaps the most surprising aspect of the current crisis is that a one-time member of Peace Now, a champion of social welfare issues and a negotiated two-state solution...
...wonder that from the moment Olmert chose Peretz, a Moroccan-born ex-union leader, as Defense Minister earlier this year, questions arose about his qualifications; like Olmert himself, Peretz lacked the military command experience almost all Israeli political leaders have possessed. Defense wasn't even the cabinet position he wanted. Last fall, he defeated Shimon Peres for Labour's top post and pulled his party out of Sharon's coalition, forcing Sharon to call new elections. Peretz tried to leverage Labour's second-place finish into a prominent cabinet post. He wanted Finance, but had to settle for Defense...
...Early on, in fact, Peretz confirmed some of his critics' fears. He sparred with his boss and Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) generals when he pushed to reopen a long-closed commercial crossing point into Gaza and advocated talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Before the present crisis began, he and Olmert were heavily criticized for failing to stem rocket fire from Gaza into Israeli towns - including the hometown where Peretz returned every night to sleep. When he slept, that is. Aides said then, and military officials say now, that Peretz sleeps little, putting in extra hours to micromanage military affairs...
...Raised in the hardscrabble industrial town of Sderot, Peretz served as a captain in the IDF during the 1973 war, but when a tank accidentally rolled over his leg - he had been trying to free it after it got stuck in desert sand - his military career ended. Following a long rehabilitation, he entered politics, winning election as mayor of Sderot and later as a Labour Party candidate to the Knesset. Believing the conflict prevented Israel from addressing pressing domestic issues, he joined "The Eight," a group of lawmakers dedicated to ending occupation altogether...
Facing those threats, Israel isn't prepared to show mercy. In the case of Hizballah, especially, the Israelis are going well beyond retribution, taking an opportunity to degrade the organization's capabilities and, perhaps, cripple the group permanently. Said Defense Minister Amir Peretz: "The goal is for this to end with Hizballah so badly beaten that not a man in it does not regret having launched this incident." Most Israelis know the offensive has come at a heavy price--to civilians on both sides, to Lebanon's infrastructure and to Israel's reputation abroad. But from the government's point...