Posted on 07/30/2006 1:13:23 AM PDT by M. Espinola
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert briefed opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu on recent developments in the operations in Lebanon in an 80-minute meeting at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem on Friday.
A spokesman for Netanyahu said that no political matters were discussed at the meeting but that Olmert thanked Netanyahu for his recent appearances defending Israel on American and European television networks. He said Olmert told Netanyahu that he was Israel's "best spokesman in the foreign press" - a compliment that could potentially cause a dispute between Olmert and his vice premier, Shimon Peres.
Netanyahu condemned a Foreign Ministry official who told Reuters that Israel would not demand the immediate disarming of Hizbullah as part of a deal to end the fighting in Lebanon. He said that Israel must complete the operations by disarming Hizbullah and removing the security threat to northern Israel.
The opposition leader said he would continue to support the government in all matters pertaining to the operations in Lebanon. Polls published over the weekend in the Hebrew press found that public support for the operations in the North has not fallen despite the recent increase in casualties.
A Dahaf Institute poll published in Friday's Yediot Aharonot newspaper found that a whopping 92 percent of Jewish Israelis believe that Israel's operations in Lebanon are justified. The number fell to 82% when Israeli Arabs were added to the totals.
Asked whether the IDF should attack Hizbullah more forcefully, 82% of Jewish Israelis said yes and just 15% said no. With Israeli Arabs included, the numbers were 71% and 26%. Olmert's approval rating among Jewish Israelis is 82% and Defense Minister Amir Peretz's is 71%.
A Teleseker poll published in Ma'ariv on Thursday found that 95% of Israelis believe that Israel is correct in its operations, but there was a 4% increase in respondents who said that Israel should seek a cease-fire and pursue negotiations on a prisoner exchange.
Big ceegar R.
bttt
Oh they are - they are very smart. One of our biggest mistakes is underestimating them. It's that they are filled with the same hate that puts dictators in power and then supports them - it's just manifested itself in liberalism.
No truce with the murderers of the Jewish people.
Go Bibi Go! Your country needs you!
Good point.
Bibi is Israel's Churchill, most of the time he is considered a "voice in the wilderness," but in the darkest hour, he is the one they need the most.
I agree.
When Bibi speaks people take notice.
The Israeli voting public will once again turn to Bibi if Olmert makes a major plunder in terms of any compromise with the Iranian enemy.
This 48 hour proposed insanity will only serve Hizballah(Iran-Syria) as you said.
Here is another news item on the 'temporary ceasefire'.
Check out this recent photo from Islamic Pakistan. This from the same geographic location in which the majority supports the terrorist Taliban.
i would suggest that bibi *is* israel's winston churchill. and at the risk of sounding melodramatic, i would say that israel is, at this moment, facing the same threat to its survival, the very same situation england did in 1939-1940.
I actually held my nose and watched CNN for 30 minutes yesterday waiting for their interview with BiBi and it was worth the wait! He IS articulate and yet doesn't sugarcoat the entire situation. When the idiot reporter asked him about the Lebonese civilian casualties he bluntly stated that the entire issue needs to be laid at the Hezbollahs feet in that THEY're the ones who hide behind the civilians with their weapons of destruction. Way to state the TRUTH - I was shocked that the CNN guy didn't cut in on BiBi but let him actually say what he had to say.
You are right.
History is indeed repeating itself, including madmen like Iran's Ahmadinejad issuing what many in the general public consider insane, bombastic statements about exterminating the Jewish people ("wipe Israel off the map" & begin with Hizballah). The same foolish reaction existed in the late 1930's on both sides of the Atlantic regarding Hitler. The rest is history.
No quarter to the jihadist enemy.
Today, I'd say Mark Regev is the best spokesman.
I agree.
Mark Regev is also a top notch spokesman.
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