The Presidency

I have a number of points to make regarding the situation with President Katzav:

1. President Moshe Katzav must resign.

Saying the above does not mean I presume him to be guilty. He has the right and the responsibility to defend himself and prove his innocence. I hope that he did not do what he is accused of, simply because of the disgrace it would be if it is found out to be true. But if he is guilty, it will be proven in court with him having an opportunity to defend and he will then suffer the consequences.

Regardless of whether he is innocent or guilty he needs to resign from the presidency. He needs to and will concentrate the immediate future to defending himself in a court of law and in the court of the minds of the Israeli and world public. Being that he will be busy doing so, he should not be sitting in the seat of the Presidency. Israel needs a president who can dedicate his time and energies to the job. Moshe Katzav will not be able to do so.

That is aside from the disgrace this has brought to Israel and the presidency. For this, too, he should resign.

2. PM Olmert called on Katzav to resign. He declared in no uncertain terms, "In these circumstances there is no doubt in my heart that the president cannot continue to fulfill his role and must leave the President's Residence,".

Talk about calling the kettle black! The President has not yet been indicted. His situation is not that different from the one in which Olmert himself is found, other than the crimes under discussion and the stage of the investigation. Katzav's investigation is nearer the end with recommendations having been made, while Olmert's is only close to that point.

Olmert would do well to not stick his foot in his mouth and put himself in a precarious position later. When any of the investigations come to the point where they recommend he be indicted, will Olmert follow his own advice and resign? I would hope so but nothing indicates that he will. His style until now has been to publicly ignore all things going on in those regards and simply spin things to distract the people.

His bold statement yesterday will probably come back to bite him in the tush when his time comes and he refuses to step down.

3. The race to replace Katzav has (more) officially begun. The candidates are lining up. They include Shimon Peres, Collete Avital, Dalia Itzik, Reuven (Ruby) Rivlin and possibly Rabbi YM Lau.

My position on this is that the President needs to be elected by the people, not by the current system of the Members of Knesset voting. Voting open only to MK means they are subject to political pressures, coalition pressures, personal relationship pressures and the like and only we, the people, lose out because the limited number of voters do not have the courage to vote for the best candidate.

Another position I have on this is that the candidates need to be taken from the general public. People who have contributed to society in various realms. Not politicians, and for sure not currently active politicians.

This would mean the only candidate I would support in the above list of front runners would be Rabbi Lau. I think Rabbi Lau is a wonderful and inspiring person and he is deserving of the Presidency and would bring back honor to Israel if he filled the position. That being said, I would like to see more candidates from the general public - accomplished scientists, professors, mathematicians, men of spirit, etc. who would challenge Rabbi Lau for the spot. I do not know that Rabbi Lau is the best man for the job, but in the list of candidates above I consider him the only worthy one.

Another position I have on the elections for president is that the ballot remain secret. if we are already limiting the voting to 120 MKs who are subject to political pressures and other pressures, at least the voting should remain secret and closed ballot, so at least to keep the slightest vestige of honest voting and not one big political deal and maneuver shafting the rest of the country.
Which leads us to....

PM Olmert and the Kadima Party is going to be pushing perennial candidate Shimon Peres as its candidate for the presidency. Supporters for Shimon Peres are pushing to change the voting system to an open ballot. They fear that the only way Peres can win is by open ballot, where pressure will force a majority of the 120 voters to vote for him. They are probably right, which is the greatest example of why the voting must remain closed. Not to ensure Peres does not get elected. Rather, to ensure that the limited 120 voters get to vote for who they think is best, not just the candidate who can put the most pressure on them. If in a closed ballot they vote for Shimon, that is fine.

Of all Olmert's mistakes, this one might be his biggest. His pushing Peres as the candidate, if Peres wins, is definitely a major mistake. The president is an honorary position in Israel. The president is not meant to discuss or get involved in politics. He is meant o be dignified and develop relations around the world and represent Israel to the world.

Shimon Peres would be great at that. He is dignified. He is respected. He is probably more or less clean from the various criminal activities plaguing Israeli politicians nowadays. However, Shimon Peres is a man of action, not a man fitting for an honorary position. He would immediately make the presidency one from which he pushes whatever political agenda he has on his mind at the time.

Peres is famous for his backstabbing and political maneuvers, and he would use the presidency for the same goals he has used politics for until now. Why would a man like Peres want this position anyway? He cannot get involved in the peace process, his baby, and other national interests from the Presidents Mansion. It is not in the job description.
The only reason is because he wants it in order to further his goals and ideals. he wants to use the power of the presidency to push his agenda in the political sphere.

Ehud Olmert should beware of Shimon Peres and not be so eager to push him into the presidency. the first person to be back stabbed by Peres will be Olmert.