World

SNAPSHOTS

Politics As Usual from page 23

Tribute Reaps Capital
Drs. Lynda and Conrad Giles were presented with the State of Israel
Declaration of Independence Award at a recent Shaarey Zedek State of
Israel Bonds tribute dinner in Southfield. The event generated $3.4 mil-
lion dollars in new investment capital for the economic development of
the State of Israel. Shown are Mandell L. Berman, dinner co-chair; Doreen
N. Hermelin, dinner co-chair; honorees Conrad and Lynda Giles; and
Lawrence S. Jackier, dinner co-chair.

Ehud Olmert attends a ceremony at the grave of Theodor Herzl on Mt. Herzl on
April 29, honoring the founder of modern Zionism.

Ami Ayalon and Dani Yatom are calling for
Labor's peremptory withdrawal from the
government if Olmert continues to head it.
Labor's dilemma, however, is far from sim-
ple. Pulling out of the Olmert government
could spark early elections that right-wing
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu would
probably win.
On the other hand, if Labor stays in the
coalition, its new leader, probably Ayalon
or former Prime Minister Ehud Barak,
would likely become defense minister in
Olmert's "second administration',' a good
base from which to build a future cam-
paign for prime minister against a weak
incumbent.
Netanyahu is biding his time, waiting
for public pressure to force an election.
He had toyed with the idea of generating
a motion of "constructive no-confidence,"
in which 61 Knesset members would
back him for prime minister, enabling
him to form a government without hav-
ing to go to the polls. But he dropped the
plan when finding those 61 votes proved
more difficult than he anticipated and
when close confidants pointed out that
he stood to gain far more via the land-
slide election victory public opinion polls
are predicting.
The Likud's tactics will be to maintain
the anti-Olmert pressure generated by the
mass rally it helped organize in Tel Aviv

24

May 10 A 2007

iN

on May 3. An estimated 150,000 people
from the left and the right filled Rabin
Square in a rare bipartisan demonstration
demanding that Olmert go.
Olmert is facing other obstacles, too. In
the coming weeks, the commission will
release his testimony. If it transpires that
he tried to shift blame to his predecessor
— Kadima founder Ariel Sharon — he
could find himself in serious trouble
inside the party.
For now, the focus is on the commis-
sion's specific criticisms of the prime min-
ister: the hasty decision to go to war; the
loose definition of war aims; the failure
to adapt to emerging conditions. This pits
the strong public desire for change against
the power of incumbency in an as yet
unresolved battle.
But the findings of the Winograd
Commission raise far deeper questions
about Israel's leadership and future.
Foremost among them: Is thecountry
capable at this critical time of producing
a leadership proficient and strong enough
to fight another war if need be or steer the
country toward peace with its neighbors if
and when the opportunity presents itself?
This, more than Ehud Olmert or
Tzipi Livni's political future, is the
deeply disturbing question the Winograd
Commission poses.

Friendly Barbecue
Along with about 60 others celebrating Lag b'Omer at a barbecue spon-
sored by the Chabad Center of Commerce at Dodge Park were Jonah,
13, and Anna Hoffman, 10, friend Fran Fine of Commerce, their mother
Jacqueline Fox of Farmington Hills and big sister, Jordana Hoffman, 14.

at,
Learning Fun-Style
A May 6 Lag b'Omer celebration blended lessons of Torah, prayer and
tzedakah with clowns, moon walks, cotton candy and a raffle for a bike.
Beginning with a telephone hookup to a recitation of Psalms in Israel,
children who attended recited short Torah and talmudic quotes about
Jewish education and received coins to give as tzedakah. Planned by
the students of Yeshivas Menachem Mendel Lubavitch in Oak Park with
organizer Mendy Wolff of New Jersey taking the lead, 400 guests were on
hand at Shepherd Park in Oak Park. School alumnus Zalman Deren of
Pittsburgh emceed.

