Israeli leader struggles to keep power, calls emergency meeting
JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, feverishly trying to hang on to power, told an emergency meeting of his Cabinet on Wednesday that rivals should "slow down" before trying to benefit from the scathing report on his handling of last year's war in Lebanon.
This week's report has fueled calls for Olmert's resignation, including from members of his coalition government. A top lawmaker in Olmert's Kadima Party became the highest-ranking official to urge Olmert to step down, and party officials said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Kadima's most popular politician, would follow suit later in the day.
The 34-day war against Hezbollah guerrillas has been widely perceived as a failure. Monday's report said Olmert bore ultimate responsibility, accusing him of poor judgment, hasty decision-making and lack of vision.
A defiant Olmert opened the special Cabinet session by hinting that reports of his political demise were premature. "To those who are eager to take advantage of this report to reap certain political advantages, I suggest 'slow down,"' he said.
Two new polls published in Israeli newspapers Wednesday said some two-thirds of Israelis want Olmert to resign immediately. The surveys indicated that the hawkish former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the opposition Likud Party, would likely win handily if new elections were held.
Since the report was issued, Olmert has been struggling to hold his coalition together. One minister from the Labor Party, Olmert's main coalition partner, already has quit, and there have been increasing signs of eroding support within Kadima.
In a new blow, the chairman of Kadima's parliamentary faction, Avigdor Yitzhaki, called for the prime minister to step down: "He has to take this responsibility and resign."
Yitzhaki said if Olmert failed to do so immediately he would resign as coalition chairman. On Tuesday, another Kadima lawmaker, Marina Solodkin, also urged Olmert to step down.
Separately, confidants of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who also came under criticism in the war probe, said he was considering quitting. There was no confirmation from his spokesmen.
Livni, the foreign minister, was emerging as the biggest threat to Olmert's survival. Livni, who has stayed silent since the report was released, may be the party's best hope of retaining power. Livni aides said she planned to meet with Olmert later Wednesday to urge him to step down.
At the 3½-hour Cabinet session, ministers agreed to carry out the report's recommendations for improved decision-making and crisis management, and to set up a committee to oversee the implementation, Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon said.
Olmert told ministers that his government would best remedy the mistakes it made.
"We could make life easy and say 'Thank you, I was proud to serve the State of Israel,' and go," Maimon quoted him as saying. "But I know from past experience with such reports that no other government will implement this (report), only this government."
Demands for Olmert's resignation began shortly after the costly but inconclusive war, in which almost 4,000 Hezbollah rockets landed in Israel and 158 Israelis were killed. More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and combatants also died, according to Lebanese officials.
The war broke out July 12 after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel, killed three soldiers and captured two others. Olmert's public support, high in the early days of the war, nose-dived after the fighting ended without Israel's achieving the two goals he declared - crushing Hezbollah and recovering the captured soldiers.
On Thursday, Olmert's opponents from all sides planned a show of strength at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Its size and composition could go a long way toward showing Olmert whether he can continue.
This week's report has fueled calls for Olmert's resignation, including from members of his coalition government. A top lawmaker in Olmert's Kadima Party became the highest-ranking official to urge Olmert to step down, and party officials said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Kadima's most popular politician, would follow suit later in the day.
The 34-day war against Hezbollah guerrillas has been widely perceived as a failure. Monday's report said Olmert bore ultimate responsibility, accusing him of poor judgment, hasty decision-making and lack of vision.
A defiant Olmert opened the special Cabinet session by hinting that reports of his political demise were premature. "To those who are eager to take advantage of this report to reap certain political advantages, I suggest 'slow down,"' he said.
Two new polls published in Israeli newspapers Wednesday said some two-thirds of Israelis want Olmert to resign immediately. The surveys indicated that the hawkish former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the opposition Likud Party, would likely win handily if new elections were held.
Since the report was issued, Olmert has been struggling to hold his coalition together. One minister from the Labor Party, Olmert's main coalition partner, already has quit, and there have been increasing signs of eroding support within Kadima.
In a new blow, the chairman of Kadima's parliamentary faction, Avigdor Yitzhaki, called for the prime minister to step down: "He has to take this responsibility and resign."
Yitzhaki said if Olmert failed to do so immediately he would resign as coalition chairman. On Tuesday, another Kadima lawmaker, Marina Solodkin, also urged Olmert to step down.
Separately, confidants of Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who also came under criticism in the war probe, said he was considering quitting. There was no confirmation from his spokesmen.
Livni, the foreign minister, was emerging as the biggest threat to Olmert's survival. Livni, who has stayed silent since the report was released, may be the party's best hope of retaining power. Livni aides said she planned to meet with Olmert later Wednesday to urge him to step down.
At the 3½-hour Cabinet session, ministers agreed to carry out the report's recommendations for improved decision-making and crisis management, and to set up a committee to oversee the implementation, Cabinet Secretary Israel Maimon said.
Olmert told ministers that his government would best remedy the mistakes it made.
"We could make life easy and say 'Thank you, I was proud to serve the State of Israel,' and go," Maimon quoted him as saying. "But I know from past experience with such reports that no other government will implement this (report), only this government."
Demands for Olmert's resignation began shortly after the costly but inconclusive war, in which almost 4,000 Hezbollah rockets landed in Israel and 158 Israelis were killed. More than 1,000 Lebanese civilians and combatants also died, according to Lebanese officials.
The war broke out July 12 after Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel, killed three soldiers and captured two others. Olmert's public support, high in the early days of the war, nose-dived after the fighting ended without Israel's achieving the two goals he declared - crushing Hezbollah and recovering the captured soldiers.
On Thursday, Olmert's opponents from all sides planned a show of strength at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Its size and composition could go a long way toward showing Olmert whether he can continue.
