Olmert defiant in face of party mutiny over damning war report

Olmert defiant in face of party mutiny over damning war report

by Ron Bousso
Wed May 2, 5:48 AM ET



JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert remained defiant on Wednesday in the face of a party mutiny that joined calls for him to quit in the wake of a damning report of his leadership in the Lebanon war.

"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," Olmert said at the opening of an extraordinary cabinet meeting.

He spoke after an aide to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni -- a top Kadima official considered one of the frontrunners to take over party leadership -- said that she would ask Olmert to quit during a meeting later in the day.

"She is expected to ask him to resign," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Should she issue the call, Livni would become the most senior member in Olmert's ruling coalition and within his party to join those clamouring for the premier to step down in the wake of the critical war report.

Olmert admitted that "there is no doubt that the report points at some extremely serious failures in the government's conduct and naturally first and foremost of me."

But he has thus far refused to bow to the ever-increasing pressure to step down. His Kadima party cannot forcibly oust him from his post, as the party's charter does not spell out such a procedure.

Hours before the cabinet meeting, the head of Kadima's parliamentary bloc too called on Olmert to step down, saying it would be "suicidal" for the centrist party, formed a year and a half ago, if the premier remained.

"He must take the decision to resign so that Kadima can continue with his mandate," Avigdor Itzchaky told public radio.

Two of Kadima's 29 deputies in the 120-seat parliament on Tuesday openly called on him to resign and a senior party official told AFP that a majority of Kadima MPs wanted him to quit.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz of Kadima said he would call during Wednesday's cabinet meeting "for the creation of a broad unity government with a deep sense of responsibility."

Polls published on Wednesday showed that between 65 and 68 percent of Israelis want Olmert to quit, and only six percent think he is capable of carrying out the functions of his office.

With the opposition and the press howling for Olmert's head, the rebellion within his party further upped the enormous public pressure for the 61-year-old premier to stand down less than a year after officially assuming office.

That pressure is likely to increase further on Thursday, when parliament holds an extraordinary session to discuss the report and a mass rally is due to take place in Tel Aviv to call on Olmert to resign.

Monday's partial report accused Olmert of "serious failure in exercising judgement, responsibility and prudence," of acting "hastily" and personally contributing to "over-ambitious" and unfeasible war aims during the 34-day conflict against Hezbollah last summer.

Speaking hours after the report was made public, Olmert told the nation that it would be "incorrect" for him to step down, but vowed that his government, already reeling from a string of sex and graft scandals, would focus quickly on correcting mistakes exposed by the inquiry.

Despite the pressure, some pundits warn that Israel's master politician could yet ride out the storm as most in his 78-strong coalition oppose early elections -- which polls show the right-wing opposition Likud party as winning.

Israel launched the war on Hezbollah after the Shiite militia seized two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12. The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers, according to government figures.

It is widely regarded as a failure because it did not achieve its two main objectives -- freeing the two captured servicemen and stopping Hezbollah rocket fire.

The Interim Report:
Winograd Commission submits Interim Report

Too bad we can't impeach members of the executive branch for incompetence here in the U.S.

So where are all those "experts" who thought Israel would quickly roll over Lebanon and take out Hezbollah now?

Hezbollah news site?