Foreign politicians with messianic visions

Israel's status as the Promised Land, and a central site in the history of Christianity and Judaism has helped this little country a great deal.
 
It has also caused some problems.
 
Israelis welcome support. We are less united in our view of foreign politicians with messianic visions about a future we should embrace.
 
Bringing peace to the Promised Land is an admirable goal. By now it should be obvious, however, that politics and religion do not mix well. The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and the road to peace in the Holy Land must traverse a Via Dolorosa.

Little countries, big countries

There are probably 1.5 million Russian speakers in Israel, and among them 75,000 speakers of Georgian.
 
So were are getting a lot of news and commentary about the war.
 
We may not know what is happening.
 
The people who know both countries well are saying, "Do not believe either of them."
 
It is also apparent that some commentators are articulating ingrown perspectives, as well as their assessments of what has happened since the last time they spoke.

Releasing even more prisoners?

As if a former president accused of rape, and a sitting prime minister being investigated for several kinds of misconduct was not enough, Israel is approaching an issue sure to be provocative.
 
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has already announced his impending resignation, promised to his Palestinian partner in negotiations that he would implement a gesture of releasing a number of prisoners, said to be 150.
 
It is hard to find a commentator or a politician, except those close to Olmert, who can give a convincing explanation or justification for the action.

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Expecting no miracles

It is difficult to believe the opening paragraph of a New York Times article, that 

The official line in Washington, Jerusalem and Ramallah is that the decision by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel to resign will not affect American efforts to negotiate a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians before the end of the year.

The article goes on to state that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other State Department officials have not given up their goal of an agreement before the end of the year. "Fundamentally, as Americans," (an) official added, "we don't give up." Ms Rice has told Israeli and Palestinian officials that she will return to the region in late August for more talks.

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No angels in office

Israel chose for itself a president and a prime minister who should not have held those offices.
 
Both are tangled in criminal investigations that seem endless. Aside from resulting in their ouster from office (not yet accomplished in the case of the prime minister), neither process may produce significant punishment.
 
The case against the former president, Moshe Katsav, is beginning to smell from age. The police and prosecutors have been working on it for two years. It began when Katsav shot himself in the foot by complaining to the attorney general that an employee was trying to blackmail him. Since then two employees claim to have been raped, and there are countless tales of sexual harassment. The prosecutor dithered about the charges that would stand up in court. The woman making the most serious charges seemed likely to be a poor witness. The prosecutor and president agreed to a plea bargain that would entail a resignation, relatively minor charges, and no jail time. The president suspended himself from office and then resigned a short time before his term was to end. The plea bargain fell apart in the face of demands reaching the supreme court that trial courts be able to consider the most serious charges, and Katsav's insistence that he had done nothing wrong. Occasionally he has denied having sex with any of those women.

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The cooperation of neighbors

Barack Obama and John McCain are trapped by recent events to express themselves on Iraq and Afghanistan.

We should not expect complete honesty from candidates. Humility can add to their stature among those who will read history years later. It may not help with the voters in November.

An unpleasant Israeli episode is relevant.

Envy the Norwegians

Ehud Olmert's problems have deepened, with accusations that he doubled-, tripled-, and quadrupled-billed for his overseas trips while Mayor of Jerusalem and Minister of Trade and Commerce. His lawyers and supporters assert that the violations are technical, the fault of bureaucrats, and trivial. Countering this are claims that Olmert's profits exceed US $100,000, that he managed the techniques employed, and used the money for family travel.
 
We hear competing reports of a government that is not functioning alongside claims of business as usual. Some prophets predict that the prime minister will resign this month. Others say he will dig in, and take advantage of legal and political realities that make it difficult to carry him off against his will.

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Newest Judeo-Christian discovery

Another discovery may shed light on the period prior to the birth of Jesus, and add to discussions about Judaism and Christianity. 
 
What is called "Gabriel's revelation" is a stone tablet with 87 lines of Hebrew writing. It describes a prominent national leader who died and came to life after three days.
 
A day after an article about the stone appeared in the New York Times, a Hebrew translation of the Times article began on the front page of the Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz. That evening two professors from the Hebrew University appeared on a major television news program to discuss its significance.

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A change of tune for Peres?

There are signs of a political earthquake in Israel.
 
They have nothing to do with charges of corruption against the prime minister, or the maneuvering of aspirants to seek advantage in the expected collapse of Olmert's government, or the election that will follow it.
 
The shock appears in comments of the national peacemaker, President Shimon Peres. He said that there is no chance of peace with the Palestinians.

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Israeli vs American approaches to war

Things are not going well for the United States in Afghanistan. The Washington Post headlines an increase in US deaths. Somewhere down in the article, we read that a ranking American official says, " . . . There has to be better governance, less corruption, more economic development and more vigilance paid to counternarcotics in order to ultimately bring peace and stability to Afghanistan."
 
That is spoken by someone who did not ask advice from the British or Russians, both of whom blunted their swords without much effect in Afghanistan.

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