Short, not sweet angry Israeli PM snubs lawmakers

[bemildred]

JERUSALEM, Apr 2 (Reuters) Israel's prime minister angered opponents today by answering their criticisms with a speech in parliament that lasted less than two minutes before he walked off the podium in apparent disgust.

Ehud Olmert, a 35-year veteran of parliamentary debates, was obliged to attend the Knesset session by an opposition motion that forced him to sit through an hour and a half of speakers levelling a series of general complaints at his administration.

When finally he could respond, Olmert rose to the podium to give the briefest of exposes of his policy agenda before saying: ''I have grown old in this house and have never before seen or heard such an amorphous, baseless and pointless debate.'' Snapping shut his document folder, he concluded, ''It serves no purpose but to damage the standing of the Knesset'' and walked off.

Timed at just 1 minute and 50 seconds, Israeli media called it one of the shortest such parliamentary speeches on record.

http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=17363

[LakeSamish706]

1. Could they take his Government down with something like a non confidence vote? n/t

[bemildred]

2. Apparently, he does not feel threatened by that. nt

[bemildred]

3. MK Eldad: Olmert is running the country like a crime boss

MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying that the only reason he has been able to gain power was his corrupt manner of rule.

Responding to a Channel 2 report earlier Wednesday on new evidence suggesting Olmert's cronyism while he was serving as Industry, Trade and Labor Minister, Eldad said "He who doesn't understand the secret to Olmert's survival learned tonight how he turned his public service into a goldmine of political appointments and a job making market."

"Olmert surrounded himself with a network of partners in crime and he runs the country as though her were a crime boss," Eldad said. "If Mazuz continues to drag his feet on the investigation against the prime minister, he will eventually admit that his own appointment was a product of the same scheme." On Wednesday evening, Channel 2 revealed new correspondence in the affair surrounding alleged cronyism by Olmert while he headed an investment center operated by the Industry and Trade Ministry. This correspondence could serve as evidence in the case against the prime minister.

One of the individuals mentioned in the correspondence is Olmert's Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel. "Ehud hello," Yehezkel wrote, in an instance when he wanted to appoint Zion Turjeman, the deputy director general of the Jerusalem municipality, to the post of vice president of finance and operations at the Israel Employment Service. "I wanted to remind you to speak with Raanan, and ensure that the appointment of the district managers in the Israel Employment Service is done only through you."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971174.html

[LeftishBrit]

4. While I wouldn't trust Olmert much further than I could throw him...

I would trust Eldad much less. He is a far-right-winger, who thinks Olmert has been too nasty to the poor settlers.

[bemildred]

5. Yeah, I think you have it.

One cannot be sure yet, but I think that catering to the whims of the settlers is becoming too much of a burden. What I found interesting, as I said, especially given the history of Olmert's coalition, it that he seems to feel he can tell them to F**k off with impunity, and of course that is why thay are annoyed. Like any spoiled brats, they are used to throwing a tantrum and getting their way.