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The triumvirate in (relatively) happier times: Barak, Livni, Olmert (left to right)
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| By Israel Insider staff May 29, 2008 |
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The second and third leaders in the Israeli government, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step aside, but he refused. Barak used the argument that Olmert couldn't deal with his legal woes and run the country at the same time, while Livni stressed the indecency of the ethical norms that Olmert represents after the devastating testimony Tuesday of Morris "Laundry Man" Talansky.
Thursday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni called on Kadima to prepare for elections and declared her support for party primaries. "Kadima needs to start preparing for every eventuality, including elections," she told journalists in Jerusalem.
Referring to Defense Minister Ehud Barak's call on Wednesday for Olmert to step aside, Livni agreed that "the reality changed after yesterday. Kadima needs to make decisions on what it will do. It is impossible to ignore the events of the last few days."
On claims that Olmert's actions may have been questionable but not illegal, the foreign minister said, "The issue isn't only legal, and the test on what is criminal and what isn't is not only the personal business of the prime minister. It is related to the values and norms and their influence on the trust of the public. It infuriates me, the attempt to claim that it is a matter of norms that everyone who enters politics needs to adopt. It's not true and not acceptable to me, and I am coming out against the attempt to impose improper norms on politics."
The relatively popular Livni, considered a front-runner to head Kadima should Olmert step down, said that Kadima members must directly select the next party leader. "I am a big believer in primaries, and believe that we need to involve the public in choosing its leadership, thereby bringing back trust in Kadima," she said. Accoridng to 5pm report on Army Radio, it appears that there is a Kadima agreement to hold primaries in September.
"We must be leaders, not led," Livni said. "It is impossible to do nothing while Ehud Barak threatens to force early election and is able to lead this process with [Likud chairman Benjamin] Netanyahu and Shas."
Olmert, for his part, pleaded with fellow Kadima factions members to let him prove his innocence. But erstwhile supporters of Olmert voted with their feet. At ceremonial meeting with foreign dignitaries Thursday, only a few members of Olmert's government bothered to show up, and Army Radio reported that a gloomy atmosphere prevailed.
Defense Minister Barak said on Thursday, following Livni's comments, that 2008 elections were likely, repeating his plea that Olmert step down. "The lot has been cast, we must prepare for elections," he said, adding: "The prime minister must make decisions, and if he doesn't make them, we'll do it for him."
"The moral issue burning today is not in criminal realm, but in the public realm. I have nothing person against Olmert as a person, but this is a state, and the State of Israel comes before all else," Barak said.
Barak's own threat to resign from the government earned him scorn from the media and other politicians, since it echoes almost verbatim, a similar threat that the Defense Minister issued, but never fulfilled, with respect to the need for Olmert to resign in light of the failures of the 2006 second Lebanon War.
The head of the Likud faction, MK Gideon Saar, said "Barak's news conference was a copy of [Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni's unimpressive news conference after the Winograd [Committee report]. It is impossible to reconcile the understanding that Olmert is not fit to be prime minister, and between [Barak's] remaining in the cabinet," said Saar.
The Meretz faction called Barka's words "lip service written on ice without any schedule or ultimatum with them."
MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz) disputed that view, saying "Barak has moved in the right direction, but too little and too slowly, and without a schedule."
On the other side, MK Effie Eitam (National Union-National Religious Party) said that he very much hopes "that Barak understands that the public will not put up with another round of zigzags and doublespeak from him."
The head of the National Religious Party, Zevulun Orlev, accused Barak of making empty promises. "Instead of making a decisive political act that would bring about the end of Olmert's tenure and move up the elections, Barak has chosen to make an amorphous statement without any schedule."
Barak did have some support from within his own party, as MK Collette Avital (Labor) described his words as "sharp and clear." Avital said it was up to Kadima to choose its path as soon as possible.
Two Kadima MKs, Amira Dotan and Zeev Elkin, joined the calls for Olmert's resignation. Dotan wrote Olmert a letter saying there is crisis of faith in him, and he should find a way to allow Kadima to choose new leadership.
The right-of-center Likud, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, filed a no-confidence motion Wednesday, stressing that the government has reached its end, and calling on the coalition partners to stop maneuvering and agree to an early election date. The Likud is leading in opinion polls.
The National Union-National Religious Party filed its own no-confidence motion based on Tuesday's testimony by Morris Talansky.
The head of the National Religious Party, Zevulun Orlev, accused Barak of making empty promises. "Instead of making a decisive political act that would bring about the end of Olmert's tenure and move up the elections, Barak has chosen to make an amorphous statement without any schedule."
Barak did have some support from within his own party, as MK Collette Avital (Labor) described his words as "sharp and clear." Avital said it was up to Kadima to choose its path as soon as possible.
Two Kadima MKs, Amira Dotan and Zeev Elkin, also called for Olmert's resignation, the former writing to Olmert saying that there is crisis of faith in him, and asking him to let Kadima choose new leadership. |
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