Letters: Olmert and the ‘Post’

I was shocked to see a four-page article devoted to an interview with Ehud Olmert, who is being tried for corruption.

By JERUSALEM POST READERS
Letters 521 (photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Letters 521
(photo credit: Thinkstock/Imagebank)
Olmert and the ‘Post’
Sir, – When receiving The Jerusalem Post on Fridays, the first part I like to read is the Magazine, which always has interesting articles and letters. Though I may not always agree with the writers, on the whole I find most of the material to be worthwhile reading.
However, I was shocked to see a four-page article devoted to an interview with Ehud Olmert (“Advice from a former PM,” Interview, January 20), who is being tried for corruption.
No one knows what the final verdict will be, but why devote this amount of space to someone whose honesty is being questioned? The country has so many topics, people, innovations and businesses that would be of greater interest to your readers, I am sure.
NICOLE DAVID-SCHNEIDER
Tel Aviv
Sir, – I am quite bewildered as to why The Jerusalem Post has decided to have Ehud Olmert as one of the people participating in its upcoming conference in New York.
He is on trial or under indictment for many financial offenses.
He cannot shed light on the subject of peace because he is not engaged in any current efforts, nor does he have any knowledge of what is being done by the present government. He cannot officially speak for Kadima, the party he once headed.
The conference should be a major effort to bring proper understanding of Israel to the United States. Ehud Olmert does not bring the stature of an elder statesman. He should not be that spokesman.
TOBY WILLIG
Jerusalem
Sir, – Several subscribers to The Jerusalem Post have shared with me their sense of shock and outrage upon learning that Ehud Olmert will be a speaker at your New York conference.
A man who stands accused of tainting with corruption every public office he once held dare not be chosen to represent a serious newspaper, and certainly not the citizens of Israel. Doing so denigrates Israel’s entire judicial system, which, after lengthy and thorough investigations, issued indictments against Olmert for a number of serious criminal offenses.
Also, his peace proposals would have reduced Israel to indefensible borders. His program for the division of Jerusalem and the forced uprooting of 300,000 law-abiding Israelis presently living in Judea and Samaria would have caused religious, social and economic problems whose consequences cannot be foreseen.
This inappropriate choice does violence to our moral compass and seems to defy all logic. Are we to conclude that some nefarious backroom deal is being hatched to avoid his conviction?
ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petah Tikva
Sir, – I am not a member of the Labor Party and do not intend to vote for Shelly Yacimovich, but I totally agree with her statement, as reported on January 20 in your daily edition, that Tzipi Livni and Yair Lapid had “shamelessly” sought the support of Ehud Olmert and consulted with him.
Olmert is facing multiple charges of corruption and was forced to step down as prime minister.
This is the man to whom Livni and Lapid look for guidance? Now The Jerusalem Post is following in their muddy footsteps, seeking the advice of this abuser of public trust in a long interview.
Even worse, it is honoring this corrupt politician by choosing him as the keynote speaker at the forthcoming Jerusalem Post Conference in New York. Shame on you!
NATHAN AVIEZER
Petah Tikva Sir, – Like Shelly Yacimovich said, meeting with Olmert “sends the wrong message to our children.”
What would she say if she read your interview with him? You ask Olmert, “Can we expect a comeback?” God forbid. We have enough corrupt politicians in office. We don’t need one making a comeback.
What kind of message does this article send to Olmert? That he did it before, he’ll do it again and that now he’ll have our blessings, printed in the respectable Jerusalem Post? What an annoyance!
LAURIE BENTNER
Tel Aviv
Sir, – There is as much chance for Ehud Olmert to come back from the political dead, no matter how hard The Jerusalem Post might try to revive him, as there is for making lasting peace with the Palestinians.
I. KEMP
Nahariya
Honest diplomacy
Sir, – Regarding “Roving ambassadors” (Cover, January 13), every time I visit another country I feel I am representing not only myself, but my religion and country. I also think thousands of people represent our country without even leaving their home by using the Internet, by being members of all types of groups and forums and reaching thousands of people all over the world.
I myself am a member of a small forum based in Switzerland and Germany (it is mostly about birds). I am the only Jew and Israeli, and I have a feeling in this framework that I can have a positive input about Israel by being honest about life here.
RUTH SCHUELER
Jerusalem
More than just one man
Sir, – I am usually a fan of Sarah Honig, but this time she disappointed me (“Losing proportions,” Another Tack, January 13).
In her attempt to defend haredim from the collective demonization that the Left is undeniably orchestrating, Honig decided that the best defense is to attack. She proceeded to lay into Jerusalem’s police chief, devoting half the article to the anti-religious bias he showed in the 2005 Kfar Maimon incident, as if the country didn’t have a problem with fundamentalist Jews but with a single unconscionable official.
The fact that condemnation of the extremists’ behavior by many rabbis had no effect leads Honig to draw conclusions about Nisso Shaham, not about the dire situation in Israel’s haredi community.
But most disappointing is her claim that we always had these nuts and that “yesteryear’s mainstream was amused by the exotica” – in other words, much ado about nothing. No, Ms. Honig, demography has made the problem very real, and your knee-jerk defense of the ultra-Orthodox is intellectually dishonest.
TUVIA FOGEL
Milan Brain-smart solution
Sir, – I was immensely heartened to read Daniel K. Eisenbud’s inspiring column “Imagine” (Eisenbud’s Odyssey, January 13).
As a former copywriting chief I recognize the effective value of Eisenbud’s plan for presenting a 24-hour rapid Israeli response to media that publish unbalanced reports or unfair anti-Israel criticism.
That our responses would be written (or articulated) by highly qualified professionals is the best way to win acceptance for our narrative at the expense of our adversaries, as Eisenbud so well posits. (It would be useful to use exploit Facebook and Twitter, too.) Hats off to your contributor for his brain-smart solution!
JOCK L. FALKSON
Ra’anana Hyphenated names
Sir, – I always enjoy Barbara Sofer’s human-interest pieces – so full of heart, so full of optimism.
In her book review “Committed to Change?” (Books, January 13), she offers a number of reasons woman take on hyphenated names. I kept my maiden name in remembrance of members of my father’s family who were wiped out in the Holocaust.
I really should have been Anna Carol Kienski-Woloski- Wruble, taking on my mother’s maiden name as well, a custom we see in some Spanish-speaking countries, considering that her family was also destroyed in the Shoah. I still just might!
ANNA C. WOLOSKI-WRUBLE
Jerusalem
A civil caveat Sir, – I wholeheartedly support the position of Rabbi Shlomo Brody (“Should Israeli law permit civil marriage?,” Ask the Rabbi, January 13), in that there should be civil marriage that would not be considered by the rabbinate to have any halachic significance.
However, there is one proviso I think needs to be added: Couples should be required to dissolve any previous marriages under the same auspices as they were contracted. If they had married according to Halacha, they would have to undergo a halachic divorce to avoid the problem of producing mamzerim, which would have long-term negative consequences.
MARTIN D. STERN
Salford, UK