Olmert defies calls for him to quit/Israeli foreign minister says Olmert should resign/Thousands call on Olmert to go
Olmert defies calls for him to quit
By Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 4 2007 16:28 | Last updated: May 4 2007 16:28
Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, remained defiant on Friday and vowed to stay in office in spite of a rally of 100,000 protesters urging him to quit because of his mishandling of last year’s Lebanon war.
Israelis from across the political spectrum gathered in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, united by their desire to see the man they call a discredited leader resign. However, the leftwing Peace Now movement criticised the rally for a lack of coherence, saying a likely winner if Mr Olmert stepped down would be Benjamin Netanyahu, the hawkish leader of the opposition Likud party.
Miri Eisen, Mr Olmert’s spokeswoman, said the best way to deal with the situation was “a stable government, not a transition period, and to immediately ... fix the mistakes and face the challenges”.
Amir Peretz, defence minister in the coalition government and Labour party leader, was reported as still considering his resignation after he and Mr Olmert were slammed by a commission of inquiry’s report into the first days of the conflict against Hizbollah.
However, the Labour party’s central committee is due to hold a meeting on May 13 to discuss calls to quit the coalition. The party will hold leadership primaries at the end of this month and Mr Peretz is widely expected to lose. Frontrunners include Ehud Barak, former prime minister, and Ami Ayalon, a former security chief.
If Mr Olmert hangs on to power, the political turmoil could last until July, when the Winograd commission is expected to issue its final report. The recriminations could also overshadow US attempts to implement Israeli and Palestinian steps this year towards eventual peace talks.
The US timeline recently sent to Israeli and Palestinian leaders would see Israel allowing Palestinians to travel between the Gaza Strip and West Bank and easing humanitarian conditions in the occupied territories, while the Palestinians would do more to tighten security on the Gaza-Egypt border and prevent the firing of rockets.
Israel was reported on Friday to be against parts of the proposals – intended to be implemented over the next eight months – but the Palestinians welcomed it.
Many other obstacles lie ahead, including the continued western embargo against the Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas and Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president and Fatah leader, was said to be considering his resignation if western sanctions were not lifted within two months.
Israeli foreign minister says Olmert should resign
By Steven Erlanger
Copyright by The Associated Press and The New York Times
Published: May 2, 2007
JERUSALEM: A deputy of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel called on him to resign Wednesday following the release of a harshly critical government report about his management of the war against Hezbollah last summer.
The deputy, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, said she had met with Olmert in his office and "told him that resignation would be the right thing for him to do." She added that she would be a candidate within the Kadima party to replace him as prime minister.
"Now is the time to restore the public's trust in government," Livni said during a news conference in her office.
But Olmert insisted that he would not quit, and his aides suggested that Livni had violated the principle of collective government and should herself resign.
Livni said that she would not organize a coup against Olmert and would not resign, but planned to work as best as possible to fix the flaws in governance laid bare by the interim report, written by a government-appointed committee led by a retired judge, Eliyahu Winograd.
On Wednesday night, however, it appeared that Olmert would hang on. An Israeli broadcast report said that party leaders were giving him more time, until the final Winograd report was released this summer.
Still, a large anti-Olmert demonstration was planned for Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, and opinion polls showed that about two-thirds of Israelis wanted Olmert to step down.
Livni is a popular but austere figure, and her statement was hardly a clarion call to rebellion against Olmert. He must make his own decision, she said.
But her defection was the biggest blow so far to his chances of staying in office. She also made it clear that she would fight to replace him inside their party.
Some Olmert aides suggested that he would fire Livni, but others said that might only make her more popular. One Olmert aide said that Livni was hoping that Olmert would fire her, but that instead, Olmert had left her "out to dry."
Olmert told a meeting of Kadima legislators that "I am in a personally uncomfortable position, but I will not shirk my responsibility and will fix all the mistakes," according to Israel Radio.
Earlier, Olmert told a cabinet meeting, "To all those who are in haste in order to take advantage of the report for political profit, I tell them not to be hasty."
Kadima was established by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he, Olmert, Livni and others broke away from the Likud party. Sharon essentially handpicked the candidates before his incapacitating stroke in January 2005, and the party lacks detailed rules. The party leader, now Olmert, cannot be ousted, and he is clearly not prepared to go.
If he does resign, there will not be new elections, but the acting president of Israel, Dalia Itzik, would have a week to consult with Parliament and name a new legislator to try to form the next government - presumably a member of Kadima, the largest party.
It is not a given that Kadima would choose Livni to replace Olmert. Livni said Wednesday that the next Kadima leader should be chosen through a democratic primary process in the party, and that she would compete.
But there are other figures, including Shimon Peres, Shaul Mofaz and Meir Sheetrit, who would also run.
It also is not clear that a new prime minister would be able to hold together the same coalition that Olmert has built, giving the government a solid parliamentary majority. A new Labor Party leader, expected to be chosen this month, could decide to leave the coalition.
The man Sharon chose as chairman of the party's parliamentary group, Avigdor Itzhaki, resigned Wednesday after also calling for Olmert to quit and trying to line up Kadima legislators to oppose him.
Itzhaki was replaced by Tzachi Hanegbi, who has asked Olmert to think about whether he remained able to lead the government.
The government-appointed Winograd commission said that Olmert had "made up his mind hastily" to launch the campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas in July and accused him of "a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."
His declared aims in going to war, to free two soldiers seized by Hezbollah and crush the militant group, were "overly ambitious and impossible to achieve," the commission said in its preliminary report on the 34-day conflict.
In Lebanon, the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said that he "respects" Israel for its ability to concede failure in the war. "I will not gloat," he told an audience at a book fair in Beirut. "It is worthy of respect that an investigative commission appointed by Olmert condemns him."
Nasrallah praised the commission for having "finally and officially decided the issue of victory and defeat."
The commission, he said, "spoke about a very big defeat."
After the war, Nasrallah, known for his plain speaking, said that if he had known that Israel would retaliate in the powerful way that it did, he would not have ordered the raid which snared the Israeli soldiers, who remain captive.
Isabel Kershner contributed reporting.
Thousands call on Olmert to go
By Harvey Morris in Tel Aviv
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 3 2007 22:18 | Last updated: May 3 2007 22:18
Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last night to demand the immediate resignation of Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, for his failed conduct of last year’s Lebanon war.
It was the first manifestation of the public’s disaffection with the Olmert government since this week’s publication of the damning Winograd report sparked political turmoil.
Olmert aides earlier said that he would stand by his stubborn refusal to quit, whatever the size of last night’s protest, unofficially put at more than 100,000.
The non-partisan demonstration, called by Uzi Dayan, a former general and independent political hopeful, drew protesters from across the political spectrum, from the far-right National Religious party to the leftwing Meretz.
Army reservists joined relatives of Israel’s war dead under banners proclaiming “Failures, Go Home” and “Elections Now”.
In the crowd, Amnon Nachmias, a reserve paratrooper colonel who last year went on a 19-day hunger strike to demand the appointment of a commission of inquiry into the war, said: “After the war there was no justification for Olmert to go but now a commission of inquiry has made a loud and clear declaration of his responsibilities for its failures.”
He and other leftwingers overcame concerns that last night’s protest might turn into a rally for Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the rightwing opposition Likud party, in order to attend.
It was Mr Netanyahu’s turn on Thursday to join a chorus of calls for Mr Olmert’s resignation. He told a special session of the Knesset: “Those who failed at war cannot be those who correct the failures.”
Mr Netanyahu, the main beneficiary of Mr Olmert’s collapse in opinion polls, had previously been silent on the Winograd commission’s interim report.
Mr Netanyahu told Army Radio earlier: “It’s clear to all that this government lost the last scrap of public trust, if it ever had any. It’s clear to all that it should return to the people and let them speak their minds.”
The Knesset did not vote on a censure motion and, if the Tel Aviv protest fails to spark further public outcry, Mr Olmert will have survived the first week of the Winograd controversy as Israel starts its weekend.
The pressure on Mr Olmert to go included the announcement by Tzipi Livni, his foreign minister, on Wednesday that she had advised him to resign.
There was widespread criticism in the Israeli press, however, for what was seen as a lukewarm performance by Ms Livni, who was said to have failed to seize the opportunity to quit and try to oust Mr Olmert from leadership of their centrist Kadima party.
So far most Kadima parliamentarians are backing Mr Olmert, while his Labour party defence minister, Amir Peretz, also blasted by Winograd, continued to ponder whether to resign.
By Sharmila Devi in Jerusalem
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 4 2007 16:28 | Last updated: May 4 2007 16:28
Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, remained defiant on Friday and vowed to stay in office in spite of a rally of 100,000 protesters urging him to quit because of his mishandling of last year’s Lebanon war.
Israelis from across the political spectrum gathered in Tel Aviv on Thursday night, united by their desire to see the man they call a discredited leader resign. However, the leftwing Peace Now movement criticised the rally for a lack of coherence, saying a likely winner if Mr Olmert stepped down would be Benjamin Netanyahu, the hawkish leader of the opposition Likud party.
Miri Eisen, Mr Olmert’s spokeswoman, said the best way to deal with the situation was “a stable government, not a transition period, and to immediately ... fix the mistakes and face the challenges”.
Amir Peretz, defence minister in the coalition government and Labour party leader, was reported as still considering his resignation after he and Mr Olmert were slammed by a commission of inquiry’s report into the first days of the conflict against Hizbollah.
However, the Labour party’s central committee is due to hold a meeting on May 13 to discuss calls to quit the coalition. The party will hold leadership primaries at the end of this month and Mr Peretz is widely expected to lose. Frontrunners include Ehud Barak, former prime minister, and Ami Ayalon, a former security chief.
If Mr Olmert hangs on to power, the political turmoil could last until July, when the Winograd commission is expected to issue its final report. The recriminations could also overshadow US attempts to implement Israeli and Palestinian steps this year towards eventual peace talks.
The US timeline recently sent to Israeli and Palestinian leaders would see Israel allowing Palestinians to travel between the Gaza Strip and West Bank and easing humanitarian conditions in the occupied territories, while the Palestinians would do more to tighten security on the Gaza-Egypt border and prevent the firing of rockets.
Israel was reported on Friday to be against parts of the proposals – intended to be implemented over the next eight months – but the Palestinians welcomed it.
Many other obstacles lie ahead, including the continued western embargo against the Palestinian unity government that includes Hamas and Fatah. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian president and Fatah leader, was said to be considering his resignation if western sanctions were not lifted within two months.
Israeli foreign minister says Olmert should resign
By Steven Erlanger
Copyright by The Associated Press and The New York Times
Published: May 2, 2007
JERUSALEM: A deputy of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel called on him to resign Wednesday following the release of a harshly critical government report about his management of the war against Hezbollah last summer.
The deputy, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, said she had met with Olmert in his office and "told him that resignation would be the right thing for him to do." She added that she would be a candidate within the Kadima party to replace him as prime minister.
"Now is the time to restore the public's trust in government," Livni said during a news conference in her office.
But Olmert insisted that he would not quit, and his aides suggested that Livni had violated the principle of collective government and should herself resign.
Livni said that she would not organize a coup against Olmert and would not resign, but planned to work as best as possible to fix the flaws in governance laid bare by the interim report, written by a government-appointed committee led by a retired judge, Eliyahu Winograd.
On Wednesday night, however, it appeared that Olmert would hang on. An Israeli broadcast report said that party leaders were giving him more time, until the final Winograd report was released this summer.
Still, a large anti-Olmert demonstration was planned for Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, and opinion polls showed that about two-thirds of Israelis wanted Olmert to step down.
Livni is a popular but austere figure, and her statement was hardly a clarion call to rebellion against Olmert. He must make his own decision, she said.
But her defection was the biggest blow so far to his chances of staying in office. She also made it clear that she would fight to replace him inside their party.
Some Olmert aides suggested that he would fire Livni, but others said that might only make her more popular. One Olmert aide said that Livni was hoping that Olmert would fire her, but that instead, Olmert had left her "out to dry."
Olmert told a meeting of Kadima legislators that "I am in a personally uncomfortable position, but I will not shirk my responsibility and will fix all the mistakes," according to Israel Radio.
Earlier, Olmert told a cabinet meeting, "To all those who are in haste in order to take advantage of the report for political profit, I tell them not to be hasty."
Kadima was established by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when he, Olmert, Livni and others broke away from the Likud party. Sharon essentially handpicked the candidates before his incapacitating stroke in January 2005, and the party lacks detailed rules. The party leader, now Olmert, cannot be ousted, and he is clearly not prepared to go.
If he does resign, there will not be new elections, but the acting president of Israel, Dalia Itzik, would have a week to consult with Parliament and name a new legislator to try to form the next government - presumably a member of Kadima, the largest party.
It is not a given that Kadima would choose Livni to replace Olmert. Livni said Wednesday that the next Kadima leader should be chosen through a democratic primary process in the party, and that she would compete.
But there are other figures, including Shimon Peres, Shaul Mofaz and Meir Sheetrit, who would also run.
It also is not clear that a new prime minister would be able to hold together the same coalition that Olmert has built, giving the government a solid parliamentary majority. A new Labor Party leader, expected to be chosen this month, could decide to leave the coalition.
The man Sharon chose as chairman of the party's parliamentary group, Avigdor Itzhaki, resigned Wednesday after also calling for Olmert to quit and trying to line up Kadima legislators to oppose him.
Itzhaki was replaced by Tzachi Hanegbi, who has asked Olmert to think about whether he remained able to lead the government.
The government-appointed Winograd commission said that Olmert had "made up his mind hastily" to launch the campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas in July and accused him of "a serious failure in exercising judgment, responsibility and prudence."
His declared aims in going to war, to free two soldiers seized by Hezbollah and crush the militant group, were "overly ambitious and impossible to achieve," the commission said in its preliminary report on the 34-day conflict.
In Lebanon, the leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said that he "respects" Israel for its ability to concede failure in the war. "I will not gloat," he told an audience at a book fair in Beirut. "It is worthy of respect that an investigative commission appointed by Olmert condemns him."
Nasrallah praised the commission for having "finally and officially decided the issue of victory and defeat."
The commission, he said, "spoke about a very big defeat."
After the war, Nasrallah, known for his plain speaking, said that if he had known that Israel would retaliate in the powerful way that it did, he would not have ordered the raid which snared the Israeli soldiers, who remain captive.
Isabel Kershner contributed reporting.
Thousands call on Olmert to go
By Harvey Morris in Tel Aviv
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Published: May 3 2007 22:18 | Last updated: May 3 2007 22:18
Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square last night to demand the immediate resignation of Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, for his failed conduct of last year’s Lebanon war.
It was the first manifestation of the public’s disaffection with the Olmert government since this week’s publication of the damning Winograd report sparked political turmoil.
Olmert aides earlier said that he would stand by his stubborn refusal to quit, whatever the size of last night’s protest, unofficially put at more than 100,000.
The non-partisan demonstration, called by Uzi Dayan, a former general and independent political hopeful, drew protesters from across the political spectrum, from the far-right National Religious party to the leftwing Meretz.
Army reservists joined relatives of Israel’s war dead under banners proclaiming “Failures, Go Home” and “Elections Now”.
In the crowd, Amnon Nachmias, a reserve paratrooper colonel who last year went on a 19-day hunger strike to demand the appointment of a commission of inquiry into the war, said: “After the war there was no justification for Olmert to go but now a commission of inquiry has made a loud and clear declaration of his responsibilities for its failures.”
He and other leftwingers overcame concerns that last night’s protest might turn into a rally for Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the rightwing opposition Likud party, in order to attend.
It was Mr Netanyahu’s turn on Thursday to join a chorus of calls for Mr Olmert’s resignation. He told a special session of the Knesset: “Those who failed at war cannot be those who correct the failures.”
Mr Netanyahu, the main beneficiary of Mr Olmert’s collapse in opinion polls, had previously been silent on the Winograd commission’s interim report.
Mr Netanyahu told Army Radio earlier: “It’s clear to all that this government lost the last scrap of public trust, if it ever had any. It’s clear to all that it should return to the people and let them speak their minds.”
The Knesset did not vote on a censure motion and, if the Tel Aviv protest fails to spark further public outcry, Mr Olmert will have survived the first week of the Winograd controversy as Israel starts its weekend.
The pressure on Mr Olmert to go included the announcement by Tzipi Livni, his foreign minister, on Wednesday that she had advised him to resign.
There was widespread criticism in the Israeli press, however, for what was seen as a lukewarm performance by Ms Livni, who was said to have failed to seize the opportunity to quit and try to oust Mr Olmert from leadership of their centrist Kadima party.
So far most Kadima parliamentarians are backing Mr Olmert, while his Labour party defence minister, Amir Peretz, also blasted by Winograd, continued to ponder whether to resign.
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