Olmert vindicates Carter, Tutu

One of the most contentious topics in dailykos IP debates has always been any comparison, explicit or implicit, between Israeli policies on the West Bank and Gaza with South African apartheid.  In most cases, defenders of Israel simply reject the idea that any meaningful comparison can be made, and echoing the attacks made by major mainstream Jewish leaders on such figures as Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, it is not uncommon that people will be accused of antisemitism for raising the comparison.

Today, no less a figure than Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert weighs in with his opinion.  The AP is reporting that in an interview with Israeli daily Haaretz,

Olmert said it was a vital Israeli interest to create a Palestinian state because of the growing Arab population in the area. "The day will come when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights," Olmert told Haaretz. "As soon as that happens, the state of Israel is finished."

More on the flip...

Haaretz responded editorially in today's editions, noting that Olmert's statement

tacitly admit[s] that expansion of the settlements is making Israel look increasingly like an apartheid regime.

The debate is now over.  Olmert has conceded that outside analysts like Carter and Tutu are right: the apartheid comparison is valid, and on the table.

Now the question remaining is what should people who care about Israel do?