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Shimon Peres dozes off during interview question on Iranian threat
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Olmert dozing off on the dais
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| By israelinsider staff May 11, 2007 |
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Vice Premier Shimon Peres is by all accounts active for his age, but time may be gaining on the octogenarian.
According to the Jerusalem Post, the Labor Party's executive committee voted nearly unanimously to endorse Colette Avital rather than Peres as its choice for Israel's next president. Peres, who lost in the previous Presidential election to Moshe Katsav, has indicated in recent days that he wants to have one more chance to win an election in Israel after losing seven straight times.
The Vice Premier, who bolted to the Kadima party after losing to Amir Peretz in the race to lead Labor, was not pleased when Channel Ten screened a clip of him falling asleep during a TV interviewer's question about Iran.
Watch the Video (in Hebrew).
The interviewer, evidently from an Arab television station, asks Peres whether Israel should see development of nuclear capability in Iran as an "existential threat." The Vice Premier mumbles in response that Iran should feel threatened, and that they would in ten years see the investment in nuclear weapons as a mistake. But by the time the interviewer asks him about the Iranian President's threat to wipe Israel off the map, Peres has dozed off completely.
The disconcerted interviewer repeats the question, and Peres opens his eyes. He is rescued by his aide's offer to fetch some coffee.
In response to the broadcast of the clip Thursday, Peres' consultant explained that he had just returned on a long flight. The interview reportedly took place several months ago.
The embarrassing clip is not likely to help his campaign to reassure the public that an 83 year old can stand up to the demanding challenges of public office.
But then Peres is not alone "falling asleep at the wheel" these days.
Prime Minister Olmert has also been filmed falling asleep at public ceremonies in recent days. But then again the same sort of fitness questions are being asked about him, for reasons other than his age. |
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