Last month, some esteemed Georgetown colleagues invited former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to participate in a “leadership dialogue.”
Olmert, of course, oversaw two shockingly bloody wars — one against Lebanon in 2006, the second against Gaza in 2008-2009. Many war crimes were committed. The Goldstone Report recommended prosecuting him. Had not the Obama Administration protected him, he might have ended up in the Hague. Olmert eventually did time in an Israeli prison for corruption. Good news from Berlin, though: the heroes over at the Hind Rajab Foundation have filed a complaint against Olmert for these war crimes. We wish them luck.
Inviting Olmert to Georgetown was a stain on our reputation. Sadly, there was nothing new about this shameful visit at all — it was merely just another chapter in a long American tradition of rewarding Israeli criminals with impunity and turning a blind eye to political corruption among elites here and abroad. Over the past weeks, this schmuck has toured up and down the East Coast, giving talks at Penn, Harvard, Columbia.
If there was justice in this world, Ehud Olmert would be sitting today in a jail cell at the Hague. If Georgetown University truly believed in values like cura personalis, we might have invited Ehud Olmert to dialogue on remorse or repentance, but not on leadership.
Mr. Olmert is not giving this talks because they’re good for his health, or because he’s pursuing a deep vocation. He’s not running a non-profit either. Institutions like Georgetown are paying him hefty fees for his criminal wisdom. I wonder how much tuition went into his hefty honorarium? If you happen to know, please contact me!
Read my op-ed about Olmert’s shame in The Hoya.