Posted on 08/17/2006 4:51:31 PM PDT by tobyprissy
Laborites slam Peretz for supporting talks with Syria By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent Senior Labor members are criticizing their party leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, for advocating talks with Syria. Peretz called for negotiations with Syria on Wednesday, the day Syrian President Bashar Assad delivered a belligerent speech against Israel. The officials termed Peretz's call "embarrassing," adding that it was politically unwise and seemed like political spin. According to these critics, "Peretz's statement was interpreted as weakness, and it's a shame that in order to divert attention from the criticism against him, he is making use of political spin without understanding that he thereby causes damage to the State of Israel, and also embarrasses the Americans since Syria is part of the axis of evil and helped arm Hezbollah against Israel. Pity he does not realize that he's a senior minister and not the chairman of the Histadrut labor federation." Advertisement Peretz's call also surprised Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who sought to minimize damage vis-a-vis the Americans. Olmert's bureau promptly issued a statement saying that Peretz's position was contrary to that of the Prime Minister's Bureau, which views Syria as part of the axis of evil. Labor Party members also spoke out on Thursday against the inquiry committee headed by former IDF chief Amnon Lipkin Shahak that Peretz appointed to review the defense establishment's performance during the war. Culture and Sport Minister Ophir Pines-Paz cast doubt on the ability of such a committee to get to the bottom of things and said that an external review committee should be considered. MK Matan Vilnai said that the committee appointed by Peretz before soldiers had left Lebanon might turn the army into a scapegoat.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Olmert cried UNCLE and had Bush and Co get him out of the mess that he couldn't figure out how to win!!
Good analysis. Thanks for posting.
The sooner the better. Let's hope before Olmert loses another war for Israel.
Oh, sure. A committee! That's sure to solve the problem.
God forbid the people responsible should be found responsible.
Labor is not olmert's party which is Kadima. The two of them are the main components for the ruling coalition.
Your source for this assertion?
Hezbollah was making such claims, to be sure. Were they, in fact, true?
Paging Mr. Netenyahu, Mr. Bibi Netenyahu please pick up the red courtesy phone.
What do you think now, AC? ;-)
Peretz is Labor. The authentic headline for this article is, "Laborites slam Peretz for supporting talks with Syria." The headline does not make the stunning but demonstrably false claim that you do, namely that Olmert's coalition is falling apart. Rather, the headline indicates dissatisfaction among Labor Party members with the party's own leader.
There is no information in the article, as I read it, that supports your claim that Olmert's coalition is falling apart.
Moreover, by putting a made-up headline on the article you are violating Free Republic procedures and making it difficult for anyone to find this thread in the future by searching for it by its genuine headline.
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