Talk:Ehud Olmert

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[edit] Strategic Ambiguity

Can someone with more editing experience who knows how to do these things please add something about Olmert's comments on Israel's nuclear situation? It's a big deal and the article currently says that strategic ambiguity remains intact

[edit] Views on Terrorism

I'm wondering about the impartiality of this section where it says that "On October 30th, Olmert gave a speech to the Knesset in which he equated that all Palestinian victims over the last few months were terrorists". The First link is from an extremely biased source and the second seems to give no details. I'm also wondering what it has to do with "Views of Terrorism" to begin with. I think the section should be removed completely or at least made to be informative rather then just attack the guy.

[edit] Prime Minister box

If Prime Minister Sharon should tragically pass it would be a safe assumption that Mr. Olmert will become Prime Minister. I was bored so I decided to whip this up for quick copy and paste if it happens.

(unsigned)

The necessary edit has already taken place. --(Mingus ah um 02:26, 16 April 2006 (UTC))

I'm wondering, since Olmert was never PM when he belonged to Likud should not only "Kadima" be listed as his political party? 70.29.159.91 17:44, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

I agree, and I am going to make the edit. If anyone here has a problem with this... talk to us. --(Mingus ah um 02:26, 16 April 2006 (UTC))

[edit] Birthplace

Is he the first PM to be born in Israel? Is this Wiki-worthy? Yossiea 15:44, 6 January 2006 (UTC)

He isn't the first: Rabin (born in Jerusalem) was, unless I'm mistaken.Secondary Oak 16:48, 6 January 2006 (UTC) Sharon Barak and Netanyhu where also born in Israel.
The only one born in Israel, technically, was Bibi. The others were born in the Mandate of Palestine. Technically. Tomertalk 22:06, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dynasty

Anybody thinks that the paragraph about the Likud Dynasty is not necessarily relevant and should maybe be moved to an entirely new article? --Cramer 13:48, 24 December 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. Seems to me it should go into the page about the Likud, if it can be integrated properly. If not then a separate list of likud dynasty people could be created. The first option is preferrable though. Sjavitt84 22:53, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

I agree. This paragraph doesn't belong here:
Ehud Olmert was a member of the Likud Party's dynasty group (those whose parents played a part in the establishment of the Revisionist Zionism movement of Vladimir Jabotinsky, or who grew up during the early years of the State of Israel under its ideology). Other members of this category (which has no connection to where they stand on the divisions within the Likud today) include former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (son of scholar Ben-Zion Netanyahu), former Knesset Member Benny Begin (son of Prime Minister Menachem Begin; whose views were considerably more extreme than his father's, and caused him to form the splinter New Herut Party), Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (daughter of Irgun operative and Likud predecessor Herut Party Knesset Member Eitan Livni), and Omri Sharon (son of current PM Ariel Sharon). However, Olmert, like several others, has joined PM Ariel Sharon in his new centrist party, Kadima. ←Humus sapiens←ну? 09:23, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The origin of the name

Does anyone have any idea what kind of a name is Olmert? I mean from which jewish ethnicity is stems from?

This [1] says his father's family was from Russia originally. JackO'Lantern 00:19, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
According to this:
The origin of the name Olmert is not known, even to the members of the family. Mordechai Olmert’s great grandfather was kidnapped as a young child by the Tsar’s army and forced to serve in it for 25 years. When finally released, he settled in the city of Samara on the River Volga, and when asked for his name, gave it as Olmert: possibly remembering it in a distorted way from his childhood.
82.166.241.108 09:34, 13 January 2006 (UTC)
"The name comes from the town of Ulm". I heard this from Avshalom Kor on the Israeli radio, and I can offer no further proof (sorry). I don't know if Dr. Kor was telling that from personal knowledge, speculating, or echoing another person's speculation. elpincha 23:22, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
It's clearly a German surname.

[edit] Olmert is a person, not a "Current Event"

Therefore, suggest removing the box on top. elpincha 23:22, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

The "current event" that is being mentioned is that of the actual event of the transfer of power. No person is a current event. That is not what is being implied. Please DO NOT get rid of the box on top. We need it there. Later!!!! User:70.124.132.176 17:46, 15 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pronunciation

It's Olmert. With an accent on the O. There is no possibility of mis-pronouncing it when read in the Latin alphabet. Due to the vowel-less script used in modern Hebrew, when read from the Hebrew alphabet it may be pronounced Ulmert, Ulmart, Olemeret, Ulamert...

Why should this name need IPA info and stuff??? elpincha 14:43, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Hmm, the accent isn't actually an O? Regardless, there is a mistake: seeing as it's Hebrew, there should be a uvular trill or fricative instead of the r. Metsfan001 21:05, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Vice Prime Minister vs. Deputy Prime Minister

The function of Deputy Prime minister and Vice Prime Minister are distinctly different in Israel. In the current, 30th government of Israel, Ehud Olmert is the Vice Prime Minister and as such he replaces Sharon for 100 days after Sharon's incapacitation. Tommy Lapid, then Silvan Shalom were Deputy Prime Ministers. Currently Israel does not have a Deputy Prime Minister. Please do not change back to Deputy Prime Minister, wikify with Deputy Prime Minister or revert without checking the facts. Regards, gidonb 19:20, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

See more in the article Deputy Leader of Israel, which title will still benefit from some improvement. gidonb 19:51, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Official PM or not?

This is something kind of confusing. As far as I understand, and as is listed in this article, Olmert has officially been PM since April 14, 2006. But many of the news stories and photo captions on services such as yahoo news and google news continue to label him as "Prime Minister-designate" or even "acting Prime Minister." Is this a mistake on their part? Or is he still a "Prime Minister-designate?" rvinall 20:41, 29 April 2006 (UTC)

It's a mistake.

Are you sure? I mean, I don't doubt it, but just go to yahoo news and look up news stories on Israel. You would be hard pressed to find one in which Olmert is not referred to as "interim," "acting," or "designate." Why would so many different reporters and writers all be making this mistake? rvinall 00:34, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Never mind. I guess some news agencies just waited till the cabinet was officially sworn in, which was a few days ago. rvinall 05:06, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Moved to Israel in 1933

The article states the following:

"In 2004, Ehud Olmert visited China and paid his respects at the tomb of his grandfather in Harbin. Olmert said that his father had never forgotten his Chinese hometown after moving to Israel in 1933 when he was 22. "When he died at the age of 88, he spoke his last words in Chinese," he recalled."

Seeing as Israel didn't exist in 1933 should this be changed? Horses In The Sky talk contributions

Probably trying to say "Palestine" (as it was then), the modern-day Israeli territory. --nlitement [talk] 14:47, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Is this line necessary? Relevance?

It has been rumored that Aliza was a (founding) member of the Israeli left wing organization Women in Black, but this rumor is unsubstantiated. [10] -Unidiode 05:59, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Surprising... Everyone in the world knows that she is one of the leaders of W in B. Axxn 13:26, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggestion

I suggest that this article be restricted to registered users editing. I went to it minutes ago and it redirected to the article about Satan. I fixed it though.

This may be a good idea. I have already listed the article on Wikipedia:Most vandalized pages and if vandalism continues at the rate of the past several days I'll request semiprotection. Tal :) 10:40, 18 July 2006 (UTC)


All wikipedia articles should be protected - and changed only by official??. The discussion page should be a free for all - which it is.

[edit] picture

Is there any pic of Ehud addressing the Knesset we could use in the article instead of one next to GW Bush? Medinat Israel is an independent and sovereign country, even when the US seems to be a friend of Israel. 82.39.156.42

[edit] Neutrality tag for section on 2006 Lebanon war

I agree with whoever put the tag there: this section is not even close to neutral. It gives the impression that the IDF targeted only "Hezbollah militant" and "the group's infastructure", ignoring the considerable evidence that the IDF deliberately targeted civilian infrastructure. (See, for example, to Seymour Hersh's article in the current New Yorker.) Also it has the apolgetic charge that "Hezbollah uses Lebanese civilians as human shield" but doesn't mention, for example, the report of Human Rights Watch which concluded that Lebanese civilians were deliberately targeted at least in some cases. There are other problems, but rather than fix the section, I think we should just eliminate most of the material, as it just rehashes ground covered in the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict article. What's needed here is something specifically about Olmert, the decision to respond to Hezbollah's raid in the way he did and how it has been received in Israel and the world. Sanguinalis 01:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] If Olmert was incapacitated, who would be acting prime minister?

If Olmert was incapacitated, who would be acting prime minister - Tzipi Livni or Avigdor Lieberman? CuriousOliver 22:03, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Russian Jew/not a Russian Jew?

An anonymous editor using an IP located in Jerusalem[2] removed this article from Category:Russian Jews.[3] This may be someone close to Ehud Olmert, or it may be someone unrelated. Could someone knowledgeable in this area take a look and confirm/deny Olmert's membership in this group? BigNate37(T) 17:39, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed merge from Aliza Olmert

The article Aliza Olmert (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) is a stub, which does two things. It explains she is the wife of Ehud, and it uses weasel words and unsourced statements to say that she is a writer and may or may not be some other things. Its one sourced statement says there is an unsubstantiated rumour she is a member of Women in Black. Unsubstantiated rumours shouldn't really be in biographies of living persons, in my opinion. If I were to remove the material I feel is inappropriate from her article, it would merely state she is Ehud's wife—hence my proposal to merge to here. BigNate37(T) 00:50, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

If there are no objections, I'll go ahead with the merge—since she's already listed as Ehud's wife, all the merge will consist of is redirecting the article here and removing the merge template. BigNate37(T) 05:08, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Oppose. We know weasle words need to be improved upon, but it means just that, the article needs to be improved, not deleted/merged. First Lady's of major nations are inherently notable. --Oakshade 03:39, 19 January 2007 (UTC)

i figure she's a person on her own merits... either we romove her due to lack of notability or we make a reasonably encyclopedic article... i fixed it to be a little more normative. Jaakobou 11:16, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm against merging the articles. If Aliza Olmert is notable in her own right, she should have an article, linked to the Ehud Olmert article (which of course should mention her). If she is not notable, she should simply be mentioned in the Ehud Olmert article.
For what it's worth, I have certainly read reports that she is a supporter of Peace Now. I'm busy right now, but will try to find them soon. I don't know about Women in Black, though. RolandR 23:09, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] He who knows no shame

It should be mentioned that Ehud Olmert is the only PM in the world, who have an approval rating of about 1% of the general population.[4] Axxn 13:25, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] May 2008 investigation

Mashkin--I cannot understand why you undid my investigation on the grounds that including it is "premature." Are you disputing that Olmert was in fact questioned under caution? That is a fairly serious and unusual circumstance for a sitting prime minister. The section is entitled "Controversies," not "convictions," and there is no doubt that the matter has been controversial and has led to calls for Olmert to suspend himself. I can see that a more stable source could be used for the footnote, but I would expect you to suggest one rather than simply undo my revision. --Tirpse77 (talk) 21:04, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

sorry for accidentally deleting the References. They are restored. Was not intentional--Tirpse77 (talk) 21:20, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
The whole controversies section is abysmal. One point that should be corrected is the finding of the Winograd commission. Specifically, I undid what you wrote since it deleted the ref etc. About the new investigation, at this point there is really very little that can be written and will make sense. So why rush? Mashkin (talk) 11:27, 4 May 2008 (UTC)
I added an explanation concerning the preliminary and final reports. Unfortunately the Winograd Commission has not been updated to include the final report. Mashkin (talk) 23:38, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] No law, but there is precedent of resignation or dismissal pendent lite

I added these 2 links since there is a precedent and he promised to resign if indicted: Olmert admitted to taking money when he was Minister of Industry and Trade and Mayor of Jerusalem, from Jewish businessman Morris Talansky but resisted calls to resign, and stated: "I never took bribes, I never took a penny for myself. I was elected by you, citizens of Israel, to be the prime minister and I don't intend to shirk this responsibility. If Attorney General Meni Mazuz decides to file an indictment, I will resign from my position, even though the law does not oblige me to do so."inthenews.co.uk, Olmert refuses to step down amid corruption scandalIn the precedent of Aryeh Deri, the court forced then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to dismiss him due to bribery charges.globes.co.il, Olmert: I'll resign if indicted --Florentino floro (talk) 08:32, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Who knows whether this applies to PMs and not just ministers? Obviously, if indicted there will be enormous pressure to resign and it is hard to see him not resigning, but it is not a clear cut case. When the issue was indicting Sharon, there were law professors who thought the precedent should not apply to him. Mashkin (talk) 00:11, 14 May 2008 (UTC)
I added this 2nd investigation at his house, since, with bated breath, the nation is waiting, if the prosecutors can really zero in on him; otherwise, like before, case closed. On May 23, National Fraud Squad investigators interrogated Olmert for an hour in his Jerusalem residence for a second time about corruption allegations. It was the 5th probe since he became prime minister and no charges had been yet filed.ap.google.com, Israeli police question PM Olmert againnews.bbc.co.uk, Olmert questioned on 'corruption' --Florentino floro (talk) 10:41, 23 May 2008 (UTC)