VOA标准英语2008年-Israeli Politics, Mideast Peace Efforts in Turm
时间：2019-02-12 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2008年（八月）
Israeli politics and Mideast peace efforts have been thrown into turmoil 1 following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's pledge to step down in September. VOA's Jim Teeple reports Ehud Olmert will leave office tarnished 2 by corruption 3 and many Israelis say his premiership has been a failure.
Israeli politicians are not wasting time when it comes to jockeying over who will succeed Ehud Olmert. Opposition 4 leader Benjamin Netanyahu who heads the right-wing Likud Party says new elections should be called immediately.
Most polls show the Likud Party winning a new national election but for now Ehud Olmert's centrist Kadima Party will remain in power - at least until a new Kadima Party leader is chosen at a party convention on September 17. Reuvan Hazen, a professor of Political Science at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, says the party convention will likely decide Kadima's future.
"The Kadima Party has only one thing that keeps it together right now and that is not an ideology 5 or a leader but its hold on power. If it does not stay together and form a new government, immediately after electing a new leader it will lose the next elections," said Hazen.
Kadima party leadership change
The two leading candidates to lead the party and succeed Mr. Olmert are Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz. Polls say Livni is the most popular politician in Israel, and has a slight lead over Mofaz inside Kadima. However Tamir Sheaffer who also teaches politics at Hebrew University says Mofaz might be the more electable candidate, because Livni is not popular with conservatives like the religious Shas Party, which holds the balance of power in the governing coalition 6.
"The ultra-religious Shas Party will have more problems going with a coalition with Tzipi Livni than to go with Mofaz - they clearly prefer Shaul Mofaz. Therefore it is possible that Shaul Mofaz will have more chances to form a coalition," said Sheaffer.
Most analysts 7 say any new coalition - if one can be formed - will have a short political life and new elections are likely by early next year.
The peace process
Ehud Olmert announced he was stepping down just as Israeli and Palestinians mediators were starting a meeting in Washington - continuing a series of talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive peace agreement between the two sides by the end of this year.
U.S. and Palestinian participants said following the meeting they were confident the process begun last year at the Annapolis Mideast Peace Conference will continue. However Reuvan Hazen of Hebrew University says that is not likely - not only because of the new political reality in Israel - but because most Israeli leaders do not have any confidence in the leadership of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"Well it is quite unlikely, not only because of what is going on inside Israel, but also because of the lack of real progress in these talks and the inability of Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) to produce anything viable 8, nor to bring Gaza and the West Bank together," said Hazen.
Conflict resolution
Hazen says one area of Mideast diplomacy 9 that might get a boost from Ehud Olmert leaving office could be ongoing 10 Israeli talks with Syria. A new Kadima leader he says could put the issue of peace with Syria before Israel's electorate 11 next year - potentially resolving the decades-long conflict. According to Reuvan Hazen that is something Ehud Olmert could never do because he says most Israelis no longer have any confidence in his leadership.
"His entire tenure 12 was erased 13 within 60 days of taking office when the war in Lebanon began," he said. "His personal financial scandals; the reports that showed he was a failure as prime minister; the inability of the Kadima Party to succeed; all of this coming after a very successful and popular prime minister in the form of Ariel Sharon. Ehud Olmert a few weeks after he leaves office will probably be forgotten quickly."
While his political obituary 14 is all but written Ehud Olmert is still Israel's prime minister for the next two months. In that capacity he says he will still work for peace with the Palestinians even though it is doubtful given his current lame-duck status he would be able to negotiate substantive 15 concessions 16 that would be required for any peace agreement to succeed.
Mr. Olmert also says he will continue to fight allegations that he misused 17 thousands of dollars of political contributions he received several years ago from a U.S. citizen involved in political fund raising. He will get his chance soon; Israeli police say they will shortly question the prime minister for the fourth time about the allegations that have put an end to his political career and could send him to jail once he steps down as prime minister.
- His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
- The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。
- The mirrors had tarnished with age. 这些镜子因年深日久而照影不清楚。
- His bad behaviour has tarnished the good name of the school. 他行为不轨，败坏了学校的声誉。
- The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
- The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。
- The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
- The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
- The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
- The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。
- The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
- Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。
- City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
- I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。
- The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
- The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。
- The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
- This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。
- The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
- The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
- The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
- He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。
- He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
- Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。
- He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- The obituary records the whole life of the deceased.讣文记述了这位死者的生平。
- Five days after the letter came,he found Andersen s obituary in the morning paper.收到那封信五天后，他在早报上发现了安德森的讣告。
- They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
- A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。
- The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
- The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。