Labour candidate calls on Israeli PM to resign
Former Premier Ehud Barak, trying to regain control of his Labour Party, today called for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign because of the harsh findings of an inquiry into last year’s Lebanon war.
Mr Olmert has lost much of his public support in the wake of the inconclusive war. Mr Barak’s resignation call could present a serious challenge to Mr Olmert’s hold on power.
Mr Barak, facing political newcomer Ami Ayalon in a June 12 run-off election for party leader, told a news conference that the Winograd Commission report was “harsh and requires Mr Olmert to draw personal conclusions and resign”.
In an interim report, the commission faulted Mr Olmert for hasty decisions and unrealistic goals.
Mr Barak said Mr Olmert must step down by the time the commission issues its final report in August. If not, Mr Barak said, he will pull Labour, Mr Olmert’s main coalition partner, out of the prime minister’s government if he wins the run-off “and work for formation of a new government within the current parliament, or if that fails, work for early elections”.
Defence Minister Amir Peretz, the current Labour leader, finished third in the first round of primary voting last week and was eliminated. He has pledged his support to Mr Ayalon, former head of the Shin-Bet security service and commander of Israel’s navy. Mr Ayalon favours pulling Labour out of Olmert’s government.
There also is internal pressure on Mr Olmert from his Kadima Party to step aside. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a likely candidate to replace Mr Olmert, said the prime minister should resign because of the commission report.
Under Israeli law, if Mr Olmert steps down, the president would pick another member of parliament to form a government. Failure would result in a new election. Mr Olmert was elected in March to a four-year term, but Israeli governments have been falling every year or two for much of the past decade.
