“Olmert is not Sharon, and above all, lacks a basic understanding of how to set his priorities,” Eitam said.
Eitam said that the Americans will be “baffled because they will recognize that Israel’s political-security posture is grounded in mistaken conceptions, and by an effort to mimic [former prime minister Ariel] Sharon. Nobody, not the United States, not Europe, and not Israel, except [Olmert’s party] Kadima supports the Convergence Plan” for unilaterally destroying Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
Eitam explained that the United States recognizes that the Middle East faces totally different problems, ones that Israel has never faced since becoming a state 58 years ago.
“They understand that the issue of determining the permanent borders of the State of Israel, based on [the location] of a barrier against terrorists is an illusory idea,” he said.
Despite the different perspectives, Eitam believes the Americans will respect Olmert’s positions while recognizing that he is not “Ariel Sharon, not in political strength, not in [Sharon’s] security capacity, and above all, not in the ability to set an order of priorities.”
“When Olmert said, now we’re going to take care of the Iranian reactor, deal with pressing social problems, complete the security barrier, and carry out the Convergence Plan, even I was bewildered,” Eitam said.
“Ariel Sharon at the height of his power, with 40 Knesset seats, and unchallenged security authority, had tremendous difficulty implementing the disengagement,” Eitam added. As a result, Eitam said he doubted whether the Olmert government could implement a much broader plan for destroying Israeli communities, especially when people in his own party oppose the move.
“How can he do it all?” asked Eitam.
Eitam said that the Americans will be “baffled because they will recognize that Israel’s political-security posture is grounded in mistaken conceptions, and by an effort to mimic [former prime minister Ariel] Sharon. Nobody, not the United States, not Europe, and not Israel, except [Olmert’s party] Kadima supports the Convergence Plan” for unilaterally destroying Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.
Eitam explained that the United States recognizes that the Middle East faces totally different problems, ones that Israel has never faced since becoming a state 58 years ago.
“They understand that the issue of determining the permanent borders of the State of Israel, based on [the location] of a barrier against terrorists is an illusory idea,” he said.
Despite the different perspectives, Eitam believes the Americans will respect Olmert’s positions while recognizing that he is not “Ariel Sharon, not in political strength, not in [Sharon’s] security capacity, and above all, not in the ability to set an order of priorities.”
“When Olmert said, now we’re going to take care of the Iranian reactor, deal with pressing social problems, complete the security barrier, and carry out the Convergence Plan, even I was bewildered,” Eitam said.
“Ariel Sharon at the height of his power, with 40 Knesset seats, and unchallenged security authority, had tremendous difficulty implementing the disengagement,” Eitam added. As a result, Eitam said he doubted whether the Olmert government could implement a much broader plan for destroying Israeli communities, especially when people in his own party oppose the move.
“How can he do it all?” asked Eitam.