Olmert’s Offer to Abbas
Aluf Benn provided an insightful report on what Olmert "offered’ Abbas as a way to at least insert a proposal that may give him a legacy.
Social Entrepreneurship Profile on BusinessWeek
Thanks to Stacy Perman for a profile about PeaceWorks, KIND, and OneVoice in BusinessWeek yesterday.
Imagining Through the Lens of Kids
Khaled Diab wrote a nice article about OneVoice’s Imagine 2018 project, asking Palestinian and Israeli kids to visualize what their lives will look like in 10 years IF a peace agreement is achieved between Israel and Palestine.
Ron Pundak, a Role Model
I heard Ron Pundak (the CEO of the Peres Center) most recently attended a meeting of a coalition of NGOs working for peace, and he was struggling because he is fighting a particularly noxious type of cancer, currently going through treatment.
I have always secretly and quietly admired Ron, and have always felt we need more people like him. In a world filled with well-meaning mediocrity down to cynical manipulation, Ron never succumbs and always applies the highest standards to what he does. We seldom speak about people we admire with the candor they deserve, unless they are no longer with us, which means we lose the opportunity to do the right thing at the right time. Hoping that Ron will get stronger as we need him to continue to lead, I want to share why I so deeply am impressed with this man:
- Because he is a Doer - he gets things done;
- Because he works for the mission, not for the institution; if they conflict, in everything I’ve ever seen from Ron, the mission always takes precedence; he eschews jealousies in favor of positive partnerships; he thinks long-term; he doesn’t lose sight of his ultimate purpose;
- Because he is humble and down-to-earth, never seeking praise or the limelight, always just doing the right work;
- Because he is a solid manager and coach;
- Because he is an extraordinary thinker;
- Because he is a mentsch - a real human being - who treats everyone with dignity and respect, Israeli or Palestinian, President or janitor.
Sobering Attitudes correlated to sobering times
Just like on the Palestinian side the call for "resistance" has been strengthening, Israeli views towards negotiations with Palestinians are hardening, according to the latest War and Peace Index conducted by Professor Tamar Hermann. We’ve got our work cut out for us.
A good summary about Olmert’s Administration
Ehud Olmert died in the war and was buried in investigations. The two years under his governance since the war were not so bad. He knew how to run the Government, knew how to converse with world leaders, made some important security decisions and prepared the ground for peace. Soon, under Mofaz, Livni or Bibi, they will start to reminisce.
Nahum Barnea in Yediot Aharonoth
Olmert Resigns
Prime Minister Olmert has announced that he will resign after Kadima (his party) chooses a new leader in the primary elections that were negotiated under pressure with his rivals amidst the turmoil generated from investigations into his dealings. The investigations center around a disgruntled donor who supported Olmert back when he was Mayor of Jerusalem, well prior to Olmert’s turn to support peace negotiations with Syria and Palestine. I’ve heard from smart insiders that the prime "witness"/corrupt donor - Talansky - is a hawkish marionette of Sheldon Adelson, who may be prodding this investigation in an effort to derail negotiations. Upon hearing Olmert’s announcement, right-wing Knesset members immediately questioned Olmert’s legitimacy in his continued determination to pursue peace negotiations with Syria and the Palestinian Authority.
Obama’s interview with the Jerusalem Post
Jerusalem Post Editor David Horovitz’s interview with Barack Obama is one of the most to-the-point expositions of Senator Barack Obama’s stances on Mideast issues. Horovitz asked strong and straightforward questions, and Obama replied with earnest answers. Anyone who truly cares about understanding the "real" Obama on these issues should read this interview.
One example:
Horovitz: You’ve said on this trip that you want to work for an Israeli-Palestinian accommodation from the minute you’re sworn in, so let me ask you about the thesis that there is no prospect of Palestinian moderation prevailing and enabling a peace process to really move forward until Iran’s nuclear drive has been thwarted - that so long as the Teheran-backed extremists of Hamas and so on feel that they are in the ascendant, the moderates can’t prevail and that the whole region is now in this kind of holding mode.
Obama: I think there is no doubt that there is a connection between Iran’s strengthening over the last couple of years, partly because some strategic errors have been made on the part of the West. And [the same goes for] the increasing boldness of Hizbullah and Hamas. But I don’t think that’s the only factor and criterion in the lack of progress.
Hamas’s victory in the [Palestinian Authority] election can partly be traced to a sense of frustration among the Palestinian people over how Fatah, over a relatively lengthy period of time, had failed to deliver basic services. I get a strong impression that [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas and [Prime Minister Salaam] Fayad are doing everything they can to address some of those systemic failures by the Palestinian Authority. The failures of Hamas in Gaza to deliver an improved quality of life for their people give pause to the Palestinians to think that pursuing that approach automatically assures greater benefits.
You know, look, I arrive at this with no illusions as to the difficulty in terms of what is required. But I think it’s important for us to keep working at it, frankly, because Israel’s security and peace in the region depend on it.
Jewcy to Jerusalem Post
Two articles recently posted on PeaceWorks and OneVoice and our efforts…
JEWCY.COM: 
Peace Through Pesto: Daniel Lubetzky Schools Us on Building Bridges and Empowering Moderates, 
by Helen Jupiter, July 11, 2008
and
JERUSALEM POST, Don Quixote comes to Israel, Jul 24, 2008, by Heather Robinson
The Impact of The Olmert-Nasrallah Exchange
I already blogged about my instinctive misgivings with negotiating to exchange imprisoned terrorists for the bodies of fallen soldiers, as well as about the perspective from some Israelis on why it was the right thing to do.
Now that the painful exchange took place, as much as I heard from many Israeli friends how this part of the code that makes Israeli soldiers so dedicated - knowing they will never be left behind, I regret to bring more information to bear on why this was such a damaging act.
It is not just that it empowered Nasrallah and sent a signal to all would-be-enemies of Israel that they can kill any Israeli prisoners and still exchange the bodies for value.
It turns out that even moderate ordinary Palestinians were enveloped in the fever of Nasrallahic heroism, buying Hezbollah’s message. A parade in Ramallah was held to celebrate the release of Samir Kundar, and all the messages addressed to President Abbas stated that the only thing that works with Israel is a strong position to FIGHT, as opposed to negotiate. Palestinians were glued to Al-Manar TV, the Hezbollah station that is the scariest thing I’ve ever seen - pure propaganda, pure hatred. The prisoner exchange was seen as a mythical victory for Nasrallah.
-
Progressive Business Ventures
-
Enterpreneurial Social Ventures
