'No majority for early elections'
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST May. 9, 2008
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209627043498&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

The day after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that he would quit if the
latest investigation against him leads to an indictment, lawmakers estimated
Friday that there would not be a majority in the Knesset to force early
elections.

Israel Radio reported that most factions, including those in the opposition,
would prefer a replacement government within the current Knesset.

Meretz called on Olmert to suspend himself and said that it would act in the
summer Knesset session for the formation of a replacement coalition.

Shas and the GIL Pensioners Party - including the three GIL members who
formed a new faction with Arkadi Gaydamak's Social Justice Party - said they
would not back early elections.

Earlier Friday, following Olmert's speech as details of the ongoing
investigation against him were finally publicized, opposition and coalition
MKs were quick to call for his head.

While Labor officials were quoted by Israel Radio as saying that the party
would remain in the coalition until a final decision is made on whether to
serve an indictment against the prime minister, Labor Secretary-General
Eitan Cabel said Labor needed to reconsider its position in the coalition in
light of the revelations.
"I do not see how Olmert can continue to lead the government in the current
situation," Cabel told Israel Radio Friday.

Cabel also said Kadima was "obligated to do something" to stabilize the
political establishment.

In addition, Shelly Yacimovich, one of Olmert's sharpest critics in Labor,
announced that "the coalition partnership with Olmert has ended, as staying
in a coalition headed by Olmert issued a stamp of approval for his corrupt
actions. If Olmert has even a grain of Zionism and responsibility, he must
resign immediately in view of the harsh allegations. While himself being
suspected of criminal activity, Olmert is running a war against the rule of
law."

Yacimovich was alluding to vast reforms in the justice system which Olmert
has been leading since he appointed Daniel Friedmann to head the Justice
Ministry.
Labor MK and former coalition member Ophir Paz-Pines told Army Radio that
"the moment they decide to serve an indictment and there are concrete
proofs, Labor needs to act, in fact, the entire Israeli political
establishment must act, because the prime minister won't be able to remain
in his role."

Labor's Young Guard demanded that Labor chairman and Defense Minister Ehud
Barak promptly resign from the coalition. Representatives of the group
warned that "if Labor does not withdraw from the coalition immediately, they
will lose the public's trust in future elections."

However, Barak associates said the party would maintain a steady
relationship with Olmert and that Labor would remain in the government until
things become clearer, Army Radio reported.

Barak and Cabel were slated to meet Friday afternoon to discuss Labor's plan
of action.

Meanwhile, MK Limor Livnat (Likud) told Israel Radio that Olmert was not fit
to carry on serving as prime minister.

"The Kadima government is up to its neck in routine criminal investigations
and new elections must be held within 90 days," she said.

Late Thursday night, after the prime minister's press conference, Likud MK
Gideon Sa'ar said Olmert should resign immediately.

"Olmert should not and cannot remain in his post," he said.

MKs from other opposition parties echoed the sentiments of the Likud MKs.

NU-NRP's Aryeh Eldad said, "Israel cannot allow bribe-takers to lead it...
and it cannot allow these people to lead it into political adventures in
order to escape punishment."

MK Uri Ariel, Eldad's colleague in NU-NRP, said that "under such grave
allegations, the prime minister needs to suspend himself and take a vacation
until the end of all legal proceedings."

Meretz faction chairman MK Zehava Gal On cynically said that "Olmert indeed
did not disappoint" the "lack of expectations" she had of him. "Olmert, like
he has always been, continues to shirk responsibility and blame others."

"Until today, Olmert failed in every moral test, and the responsibility
therefore lies with Barak and the (rest of the) Kadima party. If they leave
him in charge, they will become accomplices in defacing public norms of
Israeli democracy. I call on Barak and on Kadima to work toward establishing
an alternative coalition," she said.

As he has done in the past, Kadima MK Yoel Hasson came to the prime
minister's defense. "In Israel, we don't bring down a government because of
accusations or investigations," he said.

Hasson refused to respond to the details of probe and said Olmert conducted
himself in the correct manner by immediately giving his version to the
public.