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Ehud Olmert visits Jeruslaem's Western Wall after his Kadima party's exit polls, Wednesday. (AP)
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Olmert, and FM Tzipi Livni congratulate each other as they celebrate after early exit polls. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners March 29, 2006 |
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Ehud Olmert, the winner of Tuesday's election in Israel, said in a victory speech that the Israeli election marked a new chapter in Israeli history and that he planned to draw the country's final borders in the coming years.
Olmert, head of the Kadima Party, did not explicity claim victory, dedicating his speech instead to outlining his governing plans. He said he was ready for new peace talks and was prepared to make painful compromises.
"In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority," he said. "We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians."
Addressing Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Olmert said: "We are prepared to compromise, give up parts of our beloved land of Israel, remove, painfully, Jews who live there, to allow you the conditions to achieve your hopes and to live in a state in peace and quiet."
"The time has come for the Palestinians ... to relate to the existence of the state of Israel, to accept only part of their dream, to stop terror, to accept democracy and accept compromise and peace with us. We are prepared for this. We want this," he said.
Olmert said he would not wait for the Palestinians indefinitely. "It is time for the Palestinians to change their ethos, to accept compromise as soon as possible. If they manage to do this soon, we will sit and work out a plan. If not, Israel will take control of its own fate, and in consensus among our people and with the agreement of the world and U.S. President George Bush, we will act. The time has come to act," he said.
On Wednesday, Olmert slipped a note of thanks into the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, and then read prayers.
Olmert, who is not observant, wore a skullcap as he approached the large honey-colored stones, the last remnants of the biblical Jewish Temple. He stood silently, then slipped a note into one of the cracks in the wall, as is customary, and said a prayer. He was accompanied by a rabbi.
A short chorus of cheers
A short chorus of cheers and a brief round of applause marked the low-key end of Israel's election in the headquarters of the centrist Kadima Party, the projected winner of the vote.
Kadima's campaign song blared from the sound system in the high-tech TV studio rented out for election day, followed closely by Ariel Sharon's booming voice recorded in November when he announced he was leaving the hard-line Likud Party to establish Kadima.
But talk in the headquarters, where a victory had been expected, turned almost immediately to coalition-building. Eyes stayed glued to exit polls to see what rival parties received, while quick mathematical calculations were mumbled as results flashed across TV screens.
Only later when Olmert made his entrance was it noted that history had been made - for the first time in Israel's 58 years a party other than the left-center Labor and the hawkish Likud had taken control.
Party candidates, officials and Olmert praised Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the founder of the Kadima Party who suffered a devastating Jan. 4 stroke.
Often, Sharon's absence was more tangible than the presence of his successor, Olmert.
"If Arik (Sharon) knows, he's happy. His path has won," Kadima activist Orly Shani, 52, said, dancing to Israeli pop music. "He left the Likud to start on a new path ... I look around and I'm happy for him ... his vision has won."
Attention only turned to Olmert when he arrived. "Ehud, Ehud" and "Ooh, aah, who's that coming? The next prime minister" activists chanted as Olmert took the stage.
The results, lower than Kadima had hoped for, were still a relief for party officials who spent a tense day watching voter turnout, fearing the unprecedented low voter participation would assist parties that oppose Olmert's plan to draw Israel's final borders by 2010.
Olmert will need the smaller parties to get a majority. In the end, Olmert has room to maneuver in coalition building, and could squeeze out a majority of seats with the help of the left-center Labor Party, the dovish Meretz and the Pensioners' Party, a tiny faction that made a surprisingly strong showing in the election.
"Everything is on the table, we have innumerable possibilities," said Eyal Arad, a senior Kadima strategist and architect of the party's campaign.
AP contributed to this report.
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