Tel-Chai Nation

Some people I know have speculated, perhaps with justification, that if Kadima is elected to government in Israel, and if the state prosecutor were to bring charges against Ehud Olmert due to his illegal activities, and he had to resign, then Shimon Peres would use this as an opportunity to hijack the position he no doubt covets even now: to be prime minister of Israel.

This is only speculation of course, but even so, with the continuing discoveries of more illegal actions by Olmert (the latest news, on illegal steps he took to give political jobs to close associates of his, just came out, but is currently only available in Hebrew on NFC), who knows, maybe there's something to it. (Update: now it's available in English as well.)

Either way, considering that Shimon Peres is one of the worst, most opportunistic politicians in Israeli history, that's one more reason why Kadima is simply not worth voting for.

While we're on the subject, here's what the mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim recently had to say about Olmert's questionable committment to build the neighborhood connecting between Ma'aleh and Jerusalem (Hat tip: Menorah):

The mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim, Benny Kashriel, on Sunday cast doubt on a commitment Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made in newspaper interviews last week to construct a controversial building project between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim within the next four years.

"Out of experience, I am wary of believing pre-elections declarations," Kashriel said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post.

[...]

"If he is really serious about building the area, then he should let us get started on the first step," he said, noting that Olmert had told him that he would only make a decision on the matter after the March 28 elections.

Olmert's pledges to build E1 within the next four years came six months after he became the first senior Israeli official to publicly confirm that Israel had frozen the controversial building plans in the wake of American pressure.

At the time, Olmert told the Post that Israel made the commitment to the Americans last year when final approval of the plan, known as E1, seemed imminent.

If Olmert is going to do everything according to what the US government says, well, I'm sorry to say, but, that's not the way to do business. And if he could bow to pressure as he did then, he could do so again.