Israel: The Olmert-Lapid Reckoning
Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has announced his intention to run again for office, but he may run into Finance Minister Yair Lapid, his protege and the son of his late best friend, writes Mazal Mualem.
The announcement by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that he plans to run for office in the next elections should be taken seriously. This is an opening strategic move designed to position himself, as early as the next few months, as an alternative leadership candidate before the Israeli public and the world.
The Israeli daily Haaretz reported on April 24 that Olmert had declared his intentions two weeks ago at a closed-door meeting with Jewish businessmen in London and was greeted with thunderous applause.
Olmert has since returned to Israel and is in the midst of quiet preparations designed to move him back into the public eye, not just as a former prime minister, but also as an alternative candidate of the center-left political bloc against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Olmert does not plan to waste any time and will soon step up the pace of his media appearances, make pronouncements about central and principle issues and start building a political base composed of new and old forces.
