Olmert using flotilla to float comeback?

“It is possible to restore the situation to what it was not too long ago, when we were the darlings of the world," says former PM.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
Olmert, smug, with white on the sides 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post)
Olmert, smug, with white on the sides 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski/The Jerusalem Post)
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert is still in hot water with legal problems, but he appeared to use last week’s Gaza flotilla episode to reestablish himself politically.
Olmert gave a rare interview to Army Radio on Wednesday in which he criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s handling of the flotilla and their relationship with the international community.
“The government must make a big effort now to fix the diplomatic situation, appease friends that are angry at us, and try to escape from the ring of isolation we are in,” Olmert said. “It is possible to restore the situation to what it was not too long ago, when we were the darlings of the world, of Europe and America.”
He also briefed columnists for the weekend Hebrew papers about how he turned down Barak’s proposal to stop ships bound for Gaza when Barak was his defense minister.
In a story published in Nahum Barnea’s column in Yediot Aharonot, and in Ben Caspit’s in Ma’ariv, Olmert recalled in great detail Barak coming to him with his Bluetooth cellphone accessory in his ear on a Friday evening and asking him to authorize naval commandos to board a vessel.
Olmert said no and told Barak to go to sleep.
The story appeared to contrast Olmert’s coolheadedness with Netanyahu’s demeanor and suggest that Olmert, unlike Netanyahu, knew how to say no to Barak for the good of the country.
A Haaretz column on Friday recalled that Olmerttwice dealt with ships approaching the Gaza coast. The first, in August2008, was allowed into Gaza after it was checked for weapons, andbarely received coverage.
In the second incident, in February 2009, immediately after OperationCast Lead, several gunships and a patrol boat welcomed the vessel.
The navy threw out a rope, towed the ship into Ashdod Port, it waschecked, and when it turned out that there were no weapons aboard, theequipment it carried was transferred to Gaza and the ship was sent backto where it came from.
“I don’t want to analyze the operative steps I took, but I will justsay that I know the naval commando unit’s officers and its men,” Olmerttold Army Radio. “I authorized daring operations. But I don’t want toadd to that.”
In Olmert’s last political speech at a Kadima council meeting thathonored him, he left open the possibility that he would make apolitical comeback after he overcame his legal woes. Both Netanyahu andBarak made comebacks after three-to-four year breaks from politics.
Olmert’s spokesman Yaakov Galanti said the former prime minister is aprivate businessman and they do not want to comment about speculationhe is considering a comeback.