Out of Sharon's shadow
Veteran pol Ehud Olmert seems poised for bold moves
By contrast, the Zionism that Olmert grew up on held not only that Israel should keep the West Bank and Gaza forever but that it should even aspire to conquer Jordan. This was the vision of "Greater Israel" that inspired Israel's pre-state "Revisionists," including Olmert's father, Mordechai, a Knesset member in the 1950s. In his own political career, Olmert, an attorney, became known as a well-tailored, cigar-smoking associate of countless wealthy political donors in Israel and abroad.
As mayor of Jerusalem, he became the champion of radical right-wing settlers who violated the city's fragile Jewish-Arab modus vivendi by establishing fortified Jewish enclaves in Arab neighborhoods. Yet, when the intifada's suicide bombings began, he was a steadying, encouraging presence in a terrorized city.
Family. That's when Olmert's politics began to change. "I think his wife, with her left-wing views, finally straightened him out," said Ora Binur, 60, a Jerusalem music critic, echoing a popular notion. Aliza Olmert, an accomplished artist, took part in many Peace Now demonstrations with one or more of their five children. Olmert joked that no matter what political post he won, at home he was always outvoted.
He's having a much easier time against his current political rivals. Not only is Kadima bathed in Sharon's aura, but the alternatives aren't too compelling. Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, leading Likud, is seen by many Israelis as hawkish and unsteady. Labor's Amir Peretz, a former union leader, is viewed as out of his depth on security matters.
If he's elected prime minister, one thing Olmert would not be expected to do is stand still. He is an intensely ambitious man who, like Sharon, has broken cleanly with his political past. In June he told a Jewish audience in New York: "We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies. We want ... to live in an entirely different environment of relations with our enemies."
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