Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Only in Israel could somene like Mofaz be in power

After losing in the Kadmima primary last week Shaul Mofaz announced that he was taking a break from politics to decide what his next steps would be, a childish reaction to a defeat in the primaries. Let us not forget that he wanted all the Kadima candidates to pledge to stay if they lost. It was no big surprise that he went back on his word. Now he has gone back on his word again, he is coming back to politics and his "vacation" will end on October 2nd. The events of the past few days should surprise no one. After all Mofaz has done this in the past on a bigger scale. 3 years ago right after Kadima had been formed the Likud had primaries and Mofaz was running against Netanyahu. At the time, there were all kinds of rumors about Mofaz leaving for Kadima. To quash those rumors he sent out a letter to every Likud voter saying the Likud is my home and "בית לא עוזבים", you don't abandon your home. Believe it or not in the time it took to deliver the letters (2- 3 days) he abandoned his home, the Likud, and jumped to Kadima.

What is even harder to believe is that Livni is proposing making him the Foreign Minister or even the Finance Minister. What makes anyone think that he is qualified for either post? What does he know about diplomacy or finance? Does he even speak English well? The answer is no. What were his accomplishments as Transport Minister? None that anyone knows of. What were his accomplishments as Chief of Staff and Defense Minister from 1999-2006? The emasculation of the Army leading to the awful results in the Lebanon War. Let us not forget that he, as Defense Minister, chose Dan Chalutz as Chief of Staff.

In short, there is nothing in Mofaz's background to suggest that he is qualified for any ministerial position.

What is hardest to believe is that he has supporters who believe in him and want him to come back. Can't they see that every move he makes is motivated solely by self interest? Can't they see that he has no credibility? Why on earth would they believe a word that he says?

3 comments:

Rafi G. said...

well, if he was considered qualified enough to be a front-runner candidate for PM, then he is automatically also qualified for any other position in government.

The problem is that only in a party like Kadima could someone like Mofaz (and Livni for that matter) be considered a front-runner for any of these positions.

bluke said...

It is really scary that he almost won.

If you take an objective look at his record what are his accomplishments? As I wrote, he was in charge of the Army from 1999 - 2006 and the results of his tenure were made painfully obvious in the Lebanon war. He has been the Minister of Transport for over 2 years and what has he accomplished? The train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv is way overdue and may be cancelled, the airport is unsafe and the ports are killing the economy. Did you eve even him talk about transportation issues in the past 2 years besides making bombastic statements about punishing drivers?

Rafi G. said...

I agree, and that is why i said only in Kadima could someone like him (and Livni) have been a frontrunner candidate for PM