Press hails Olmert 'openness'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/7069214.stm

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Israeli papers welcome Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to go public with the news that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, saying it marks a positive change from the past, when the state of health of leaders was treated almost as a state secret. </P>

Some warn however that the sympathy and support for Mr Olmert generated by the news may be short-lived.</P>

Although news of Mr Olmert's illness was widely reported in the Arabic media, what little comment there is markedly short on sympathy for the Israeli premier. </P>

ALUF BENN IN HA'ARETZ </P>

Olmert has shown a new openness that breaks with the tradition of his predecessors hiding their ailments (like Levy Eshkol, Golda Meir and Menachem Begin), or responding with dismissive joking to questions about their health (Ariel Sharon)... One may only hope that Monday's news conference will set a new norm for state leaders' conduct. </P>

HABER IN YEDIOT AHARONOT </P>

Ehud Olmert behaved with much wisdom yesterday when he presented his medical problem publicly before he falls victim to the typical Israeli hobby: rumours... Indeed the State of Israel has come a long way since the early 60s and 70s. Then they used to smuggle prime minister Golda Meir to the Sharet Institute at Hadassah hospital to secretly receive radiation treatment against cancer. This was a state secret almost like those things at the Dimona reactor. </P>

BEN KASPIT IN MA'ARIV </P>

Ehud Olmert withstood this experience well... Yesterday all were forced to wish him speedy recovery, to stop the pursuit for the moment, even to like him for a moment. They will forget this tomorrow. </P>

EDITORIAL IN JERUSALEM POST </P>

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Sheba Medical Centre physicians are to be congratulated for their speedy disclosure of his prostate cancer just days after he himself learned he had the disease. Legally, he could have hidden the fact. Indeed, Olmert is the first premier to voluntarily publicise that he has a potentially serious illness... </P>

YOSSI VERTER IN HA'ARETZ </P>

No doubt Olmert's dignified conduct and openness will win him public sympathy and quell the ranting of his rivals. But he is aware that the sympathy will pass and that his real troubles lie ahead: the Winograd Committee's report on the Second Lebanon War, the police investigations, the Annapolis summit and, of course, the surgery. </P>

HERB KEINON IN JERUSALEM POST </P>

On the way to Annapolis [US-sponsored peace conference], it was important for Olmert to serve notice to Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas, to the US Administration and to the Arab leaders, who may or may not attend the meeting, that he was not facing a life-threatening situation... Olmert's announcement about his health was meant to reassure the neighbours, and not only put to rest concerns about his well-being inside Israel. </P>

MAHMUD AL-RIMAWI IN JORDAN'S AL-RA'Y </P>

[Olmert's] policies are sick, and so is he... Unlike most human beings, rightist Israeli leaders increase their extremism when they get old or become sick.</P>

KHALIL HARB IN LEBANON'S AL-SAFIR </P>

There is some apprehension about Ehud Olmert's prostate cancer turning into an additional affliction... Now [through] Olmert's illness, [Israel] will practise more blackmail against the Europeans and it will become more blissful with the idea of sharing beds with the Americans. </P>

<I><A href="http://www.monitor.bbc.co.uk">BBC Monitoring</A> selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaux abroad.</I></P>