“Every Solution Will Be Painful” - A statement by PM Olmert in an interview this past weekend with the Jerusalem Post.

I understand the Left. They want every solution to be painful… to the Right. They look at it as a way of punishing those who dare rise up and disagree with them. Better to hurt your political (and spiritual?) opponents than your physical enemy.

There is enough documented articles and commentaries from the Expulsion that attests to that fact.

But it’s the New Left that confuses me.

Once the “Center” or the “pseudo-Right”, these “New Leftists” have knowingly swallowed the mantras of the Left – even as they know full well the lies and falsehoods these mantras are based on.

Lies such as fictitious demographic statistics from fabricated Palestinian disinformation centers, and dishonest arguments that purposely jumble the lines between demographic basins, strategically defensible borders and armistice lines – just to give 2 examples.

Or worse, the knowledge that true and viable alternatives exist – solutions that needn’t be painful.

Those on the Left like to say that the line has moved. What was once Left is now Center.

The Line hasn’t moved. Right is still right, and Left is still wrong.

What has moved is not the imaginary “Center” but moral posture of those who once defended this country and Jerusalem in words or actions.

As much as Olmert might protest, the fact is, he has let the Left win, even in Jerusalem.

Where once there was consensus on Jerusalem on such places as Gilo, Abu Tor, Pisgat Zev, the Jewish Quarter (not to mention Har Homa and Ma’aleh Adumim), Olmert has allowed the door to be open on all of Jerusalem.

As much as he might protest his innocence, he has let the Left lead him down that slope of evil, where the discussion is no longer about (currently) predominantly Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem (as he has given up on that entirely), but on our rights to the completely Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem.

That door is open, and he hasn’t made any, but the feeblest of symbolic attempts to shut it.

Like Sharon, Olmert recently made the ridiculous statement that as Prime Minister he is privy to State Secrets that give him superior insight into what is going on behind the scenes – while we simple citizens know nothing, and should therefore completely and passively trust his judgment and decisions, no matter how bad it may look to us.

There is only one thing wrong with this argument.

The Prime Minister receives his information from multiple sources (not one secret source that no one else was involved in). And enough people on different sides of the political spectrum are privy to the same exact information.

For instance, Netanyahu has access and receives the same reports. While his backbone isn’t strong enough to maintain his moral positions under pressure, he manages to reach completely different conclusions from Olmert (and the Left) when he isn’t being forced to concede under blatantly nontransparent political pressures.

In fact, enough political and military analysts, both within and outside of the government, reach opposing conclusions with the same data.

In short, one’s moral position and moral strength (and perhaps criminal background) are the deciding factor in how to interpret the data.

My point?

No painful solutions are needed, unless you personally need them.