PM seeks to avoid 'political crisis'

It didn’t get a great deal of play but Stephen Harper has postponed his trip to the Middle East due to the political crisis in Israel reports the Toronto Star:

Growing political uncertainty in the Middle East has forced Prime Minister Stephen Harper to postpone an upcoming trip to the region. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is facing a leadership crisis, with cabinet ministers pushing him to resign over allegations of corruption involving illegal campaign contributions and a bribe.

Harper had planned to visit Israel, the West Bank and Jordan later this month in his first tour of the region since becoming Prime Minister. But Harper plans to reschedule the trip to avoid showing up during major confidence votes in the Knesset.

While I understand the Prime Minister’s reluctance to attend, I half suspect he would feel right at home during the political ‘crisis’ as he is no stranger to political crisis in general. It would have also been a great opportunity to meet with any number of potential leaders. If one wishes to only visit or establish ties in stable good times that speaks more to a lack of leadership, and in Israel, every day has the potential to be a political crisis.