Israel Matzav

Will Slimy Shimon be the next President of Israel?

In his autobiography, Yitzchak Rabin called Shimon Peres "an unyielding subverter" and said that he deemed it a first rate moral blemish that the Labor party nominated him to be Prime Minister. In her autobiography, Golda Meir wrote that she conditioned her participation in the government on Peres' being kept away from any sensitive security position. And in his diary, Moshe Sharett wrote that he would rend his garments in mourning the day that Shimon Peres becomes a minister in an Israeli government. He said that he saw Peres' rise in standing as "a most accursed moral flaw." But unless Shas' MK's fail to follow their leader's orders on Wednesday, it is highly likely that Slimy Shimon Peres will become Israel's ninth President.

One has to wonder what the Labor MK's are thinking. Peres abandoned Labor for Kadima Achora two years ago, but now he's pressuring Labor's candidate - Colette Avital - to drop out of the race so that he can win it in the first round. At the very least it appears that if Avital does not make the third and final round - which is likely - she will throw her support to Peres:

The sources said Peres has become increasingly frustrated with MKs who have told him that they intend to vote for Avital in the first round of voting and then support him against Likud MK Reuven Rivlin in later rounds held among the top two candidates. Peres has told the MKs that if they want him to be president, they should support him from the start of the voting.

"We still hope Colette quits before the race begins," a source close to Peres said. "Maybe whoever wins the Labor race will be able to knock some sense into her. [Peres] is angry at people voting for Colette in the first round. It doesn't make sense to him."

Avital's associates responded with outrage, accusing Peres of employing countless tricks in a fruitless attempt to harm her.

"Peres left the party and caused it great damage just because he didn't win the election for Labor leader in 2005," an Avital associate said. "It would be chutzpa for him to appeal to the leader of Labor with such a request after he abandoned the party."

Yes, but chutzpa is Peres' trademark:

In 1981 Peres, then opposition leader, nearly placed Israel in danger of nuclear annihilation by working to undercut then prime minister Menachem Begin's plan to attack the French and Italian-built Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak.

Begin was forced to delay the air strike which denied Saddam Hussein the wherewithal to obliterate the Jewish state for a number of months after Peres, who had been leaked knowledge of the planned attack, confronted Begin and implicitly threatened to leak the ultra-secret operation to others.

One of the factors that weighed on Begin's decision to attack was the fear that were Peres to win the then approaching 1981 Knesset elections and replace him as premier, Peres would enable Iraq to acquire the means to wipe Israel off the map and assert its hegemony over the global oil market.

...

As foreign minister in Yitzhak Rabin's government, Peres knowingly subverted Rabin's policy of not negotiating with the PLO by sending his own emissaries to Oslo behind the back of the prime minister to negotiate with senior PLO terrorists. Peres then rammed the accord down Rabin's throat, dragging along an unwilling public.

As usual, Peres - this time assisted by Ehud K. Olmert - has run such a dirty campaign that even the normally mild-mannered Ruby Rivlin - his main opponent - has lashed out:

Rivlin lashed out on Monday at Olmert, his strategists and the press for putting undue pressure on MKs to vote for Peres. He joked that the press had almost convinced him to vote for Peres against himself, and he told sources close to him that Hadash MK Muhammad Barakei would be "butchered" if he admitted that he supported him.

Following meetings with more than 60 MKs in one day on Monday, Rivlin sent a letter to every MK decrying the pressure and threats his supporters were facing and accusing Peres of making a mockery of the Knesset by trying to change the law to try to guarantee his victory and by denying for a year that he would run.

"I wanted to write you directly to go above all the entertainers, propagandists, wealthy people, image consultants, PR people and strategists who have been drafted in a last-ditch effort in which everything is kosher and legitimate," Rivlin told the MKs.

Labor officials revealed that Rivlin's only open supporter in the party, MK Shelly Yacimovich, had set up meetings between Rivlin and several Labor MKs to try and sway their votes.

Ironically, Rivlin, who is the right wing candidate, may only be able to win the Presidency on the strength of the Arab vote:

In a meeting with the United Arab List faction, Rivlin received a compliment from MK Ahmed Tibi, who praised Rivlin's father, Prof. Yoel Rivlin.

"There are four MKs here who know the Koran more or less but only one whose father translated the Koran to Hebrew," Tibi said.

Does it matter if Peres wins? Caroline Glick thinks that it does:

It has been argued that since the office of president is largely ceremonial, a President Peres will be able to do little damage to the country.

But this assertion ignores the fact that Peres has never seen himself bound by the formalities of office. As foreign minister under Rabin he overstepped his authority when he directed illegal negotiations with the PLO in Norway. As foreign minister under Sharon, Peres used his office to undermine President George W. Bush's call for a reform and democratization of Palestinian society.

As head of the Peres Center and international conference circuit star, he worked to undermine the international credibility of the Netanyahu government. It beggars belief to say that as president, Peres would limit his actions to accrediting ambassadors and signing pardons for criminals.

Signing pardons for criminals? Including for Marwan the Murdering Moron Barghouti? This election could actually mean something. Unfortunately, only 120 people have the power to vote. And because we have not taken to the streets to throw this corrupt government and Knesset out, those 120 people may stick us with Slimy Shimon Peres for the next seven years. As the Talmud says, you get the leadership your generation deserves. Ours is pretty lousy.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:51 AM