Domestic violations
Israelis are distracted by two domestic topics these days, first the corruption charges against PM Olmert and second the secondary school teacher's strike.
There are now three charges of corruption against Olmert! The first was in relation to the privatization of Bank Leumi when he was Minister of Industry & Commerce. He is supposed to have tried to arrange a preferential sale to his friend Loewe, a S. African industrialist. The fact that Loewe did not eventually buy the shares does not change the fact that Olmert interfered in the sale process. The second charge is that he bought his house in Rehov Cremieux in Jerusalem for a preferentially low price, far below the market value, and this is suspicious. The third charge is that when he was in the Transportation Ministry, he arranged positions for friends and Likud Party members contrary to legal policies. While none of these items are individually of great significance, they indicate a general level of low integrity and honesty of PM Olmert. He is the fifth PM to be investigated on such charges, but the first to have three different sets of charges ongoing simultaneously. Apart from his political opportunism (following Sharon to Kadima) Olmert is seen as weak and untrustworthy, not the kind of image a PM of Israel should project. Of course, Olmert and his aides say that he is innocent and that the charges are politically motivated. However, the greatest test for his credibility will be when the Winograd Committee issues its Report into the Second Lebanon war.
The secondary school teachers strike has so far lasted only 5 days, but is expected to last as much as 1-2 months! Why should this happen? Most analysts attribute it to two factors, (i) the neglect by all previous Israeli Govts of the gradual lowering of high school educational standards in Israel, without any serious response; and (ii) the relatively rapid replecement of Ministers of Education, each of whom have different priorities and who usually cancel the decisions of previous committees set up by their predecessors. The net result is that nothing is reformed and nothing gets done. Now the teachers, who are among the lowest paid compared to the EU countries, have decided to change the system once and for all. They demand a huge pay increase, but that is only part of their demands, they also want far-reaching reforms of the system itself. In the end a compromise will certainly be arrived at, but for the moment it is stalemate, with high school kids not receiving any education, except for those in religious schools, whose teachers are in a separate union.
While important decisions loom in the field of foreign policy, particularly regarding compromises in relation to the PA and the Annapolis Conference, these domestic issues definitely divert the attention of many Israelis.
There are now three charges of corruption against Olmert! The first was in relation to the privatization of Bank Leumi when he was Minister of Industry & Commerce. He is supposed to have tried to arrange a preferential sale to his friend Loewe, a S. African industrialist. The fact that Loewe did not eventually buy the shares does not change the fact that Olmert interfered in the sale process. The second charge is that he bought his house in Rehov Cremieux in Jerusalem for a preferentially low price, far below the market value, and this is suspicious. The third charge is that when he was in the Transportation Ministry, he arranged positions for friends and Likud Party members contrary to legal policies. While none of these items are individually of great significance, they indicate a general level of low integrity and honesty of PM Olmert. He is the fifth PM to be investigated on such charges, but the first to have three different sets of charges ongoing simultaneously. Apart from his political opportunism (following Sharon to Kadima) Olmert is seen as weak and untrustworthy, not the kind of image a PM of Israel should project. Of course, Olmert and his aides say that he is innocent and that the charges are politically motivated. However, the greatest test for his credibility will be when the Winograd Committee issues its Report into the Second Lebanon war.
The secondary school teachers strike has so far lasted only 5 days, but is expected to last as much as 1-2 months! Why should this happen? Most analysts attribute it to two factors, (i) the neglect by all previous Israeli Govts of the gradual lowering of high school educational standards in Israel, without any serious response; and (ii) the relatively rapid replecement of Ministers of Education, each of whom have different priorities and who usually cancel the decisions of previous committees set up by their predecessors. The net result is that nothing is reformed and nothing gets done. Now the teachers, who are among the lowest paid compared to the EU countries, have decided to change the system once and for all. They demand a huge pay increase, but that is only part of their demands, they also want far-reaching reforms of the system itself. In the end a compromise will certainly be arrived at, but for the moment it is stalemate, with high school kids not receiving any education, except for those in religious schools, whose teachers are in a separate union.
While important decisions loom in the field of foreign policy, particularly regarding compromises in relation to the PA and the Annapolis Conference, these domestic issues definitely divert the attention of many Israelis.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:38 AM
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