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Friday November 2, 2007

Going public with cancer boosts Olmert's ratings

by roy eitan
jta

jerusalem | Ehud Olmert’s surprise announcement that he has early-stage prostate cancer is being seen in Israel as more than merely a medical disclosure. It appears also to be a gesture to head off another Israeli leadership crisis.

The 62-year-old prime minister, revealing his disease at a news conference Oct. 29, was quick to reassure Israelis he would remain in office.

And the news didn’t hurt his ratings either. According to the Associated Press, a Dahaf Research Institute survey taken immediately after Olmert’s announcement showed 41 percent of Israelis said Olmert was doing a “good” job, a 6 percentage point increase from the previous month.

Following a routine checkup, Olmert said, “the first signs of a cancerous growth were discovered in the prostrate gland,” requiring minor surgery in the coming months. He said there would be no radiation treatment or chemotherapy.

“I will be fit and fully up to my duties before the procedure and within a few hours after it,” Olmert said.

Israelis are still fresh from the experience of Olmert’s predecessor, Ariel Sharon, whose tenure in office ended abruptly after Sharon was crippled by a stroke in January 2006.

Many Israelis were furious to learn after the stroke that Sharon’s doctors may have mishandled his treatment following a more minor stroke partly as a result of pressure by Sharon to downplay the seriousness of his medical condition.

As a result, experts said, Sharon and his doctors made decisions that may have contributed to the prime minister’s debilitating event.

“There is no doubt that what happened with Sharon is overshadowing this episode,” said Israeli political analyst and television reporter Raviv Drucker.

The picture of Olmert, an avid soccer fan who went jogging in London’s Hyde Park during a recent official visit to Britain, is a far cry from that of the older and morbidly obese Sharon.

Yet Olmert acknowledged the concern.

“Though I am under no legal obligation to give a public accounting on my state of health, I want to make a full and candid representation,” he said. “The Israeli public has a right to know.”

His doctors, who appeared beside Olmert at the news conference, said there was no reason for the prime minister not to attend the conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, which is supposed to be held this year in Annapolis, Md.

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