Tues
9th May 06
Our
new government got on its way on Sunday, with a brand new prime minister and 25
new cabinet ministers.
Very
few people in
The
closest any of us will ever get to know these ministers is through dealings
with their ministries and the publicity they receive in the media.
Now
with this scant bit of knowledge Israelis are being asked and are asking
themselves what they think of the new government.
When
asked this question after
Opinions
ranged from great enthusiasm to great disappointment. One person said there
would be war, another said there would be peace, someone else said now the
economy is going to flourish and someone else said it's all going down the
drain. Opinions, opinions, opinions and more opinions.
Today,
all of a sudden, as it were, nobody has an opinion. This is certainly the
quietest entrance into the arena of public affairs any government has ever
made.
The
only opinion expressed was by someone in Perez's Labor Party that Olmert's government won't last more than two years. And
this is more of a hope than an opinion that the government will soon fall,
there will be new elections and Peretz will soon have
another opportunity to try and bring victory for Labor.
I
had a very good opinion about
My
opinion of
My
opinion of Olmert is based on only one meeting in his
office as mayor of
Olmert explained the
difference between a serious wound, a mild to serious injury and a light
injury.
These
are terms used by the media to describe the gravity of a person's injury. They
leave us with a feeling of relief that the person is still alive and will
recover from his injury.
Instead
of putting us at ease with a false impression that everything would be okay with
the injured person and the situation in general, he painted a clear picture of
the suffering of even the most mildly injured person and the seriousness of the
situation.
Then
I understood that Olmert isn't one who lives in
illusions but sees the situation exactly as it really is. He isn't a hero, like
Sharon and he's not out to have a government of heroes.
Olmert demonstrated how
consistently he applies this approach, of clarity and directness, by beginning
the first cabinet meeting with one terse rule, namely ministers are to keep
discussions brief, to the point and to stick to matters concerning only their
offices.
In
its first week in office Olmert's government is
showing itself to be like him, namely very quiet but highly active.
Circumspection
and theories of what the government is talking about and what it's going or not
going to do, has been replaced in the media by reports
of real events.
Only
after one week the newspapers are full of events such as an agreement by
settlers to willingly dismantle illegal settlements, removal by the police of
settlers from an Arab house in Hebron, an Israeli air strike at a Hamas base for training their soldiers in rocket launching,
the permission for more Palestinians to enter Israel to find work, presentation
of a law to regulate the citizenship of foreign worker's children born in
Israel and more.
A
German tourist reminded me, yesterday of a wise saying which is very applicable
in
In
silence lies strength.
Perhaps
it's only a hope, but I really think that we're on a new road of normalcy, less
fluster and buster and more quiet, clear and strong action.
Here's
wishing you a great no news day.
Send comments to: legork@netvision.net.il
Send this article to a friend: 
Written
by:
Leon Gork. Israeli Tour Guide.
Tel/fax 02 5810732
Mobile phone 052 3801867
http://www.jerusalemwalks.tripod.com