Sharansky: Only Olmert Could Have Pulled This Off

Joel Mowbray reports from Israel via Powerline about his interview with Natan Sharansky:

Ariel Sharon would not have responded this strongly because he was so concerned with changing his image, and while Bibi would have done exactly the same thing as Olmert is, half of the country would have been protesting about what the ‘monster’ is doing,” explained former Israeli cabinet member and world-famous dissident Natan Sharansky.

Choosing his words as he stirred his breakfast shake, Sharanksy suggested that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with his center-left coalition, is perhaps the only leading figure capable of a muscular response to Hamas and Hezbollah that enjoys overwhelming public support. He seems almost relieved when he says, “This is a unique moment of unity.”

Needless to say, this is not what most people are probably thinking--and Sharansky saying it does not make it so--but it is an interesting point of view.

Of course, if Olmert has support when it comes to Hizbollah, he does not have it when it comes to his plan for Convergence.

IMRA reports on a poll taken today:

In your opinion, in light of what recently took place in Gaza, was the
disengagement plan [AL: the retreat from Gaza] justified?
Yes 44%
No 31%
Don't know/other replies 25%

Are you for or against Ehud Olmert's convergence plan? [AL: aka
"consolidation plan", retreat from most of the West Bank]
For 19%
Against 52%
Don't know/other replies 29%

In your opinion, do most of the citizens of the State of Israel have enough
information about Ehud Olmert's convergence plan?
Yes 11%
No 71%
Don't know/other replies 18%

Still Sharansky's point is interesting, if for no other reason than that one might have thought that if Sharon was still Prime Minster--Hizbollah would not have started this, let alone Hamas.

According to Mowbray, there are high-ranking members of Kadimah itself who say that the Convergence Plan is dead--for now.

In any case, it would seem that Hizbollah underestimated both the kind and degree of response that Olmert was capable of, even assuming he was pressured into it.

Mowbray concludes with with the following cautious note by Sharansky:

“I hope he’s not making one mistake, and that is planning for more weeks ahead. At most, he will have days.” Why, I asked him, will Israel only have days, especially if Hezbollah continues firing rockets into Israeli civilian areas? “Because of the world,” he answered. “At the moment Israel starts becoming successful, the world tells us to stop.”

Israel's military might not be thinking along the same lines. Yesterday's Jerusalem Post quotes a high-ranking officer, who gave the following assessment of the progress made against Hizbollah thus far:

About 25 percent of Hizbullah's capabilities have been hit, a high-ranking IDF officer estimated on Sunday night at the end of the fifth day of Operation Just Reward.

According to the officer, the group's chain of command is still functioning. He estimated that the Lebanese group would not be annihilated when the dust settles, only severely damaged.

The officer predicted that the operation would end in the middle of next week. [emphasis added]

Israel is now in a fight against time, not so much against her enemies as against those who should be her allies.

Crossposted at Israpundit

Technorati Tag: Israel and Olmert and Sharansky and Hizbollah and Hezbollah and Mowbray.