Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks at the Opening Session of the Middle East Peace Conference at the U. S Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on November 27, 2007
He gets a prize for political courage, because he had the least to gain, short term, in going to Annapolis. Israel is vastly superior to the Palestinians in military strength; its security wall has helped produce a relative lull in terror attacks on Israelis (except those unfortunate enough to live within rocket range of Gaza); his coalition partners had threatened to bring down his government if he made concessions on Jerusalem or Palestinian refugees; and, he faces a personal criminal inquiry into alleged fraud. But Olmert has exhibited wisdom and pragmatism, dating back to 2003 when he publicly acknowledged giving up his dream of a Greater Israel. He said he feared the day when Israel would be faced with a choice: either deny Palestinians a vote and be condemned by the world as an apartheid state, or give Palestinians a vote and lose the Jewish state. Olmert has showed that he has the guts to take on the past. The hope is that by going to Annapolis, he has the courage to take on the future, too.