Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert staved off a threat by a key coalition partner to bring down the government yesterday, giving him at least a few more months to pursue peace agreements with the Palestinians and Syria. But the last-minute political understanding could bring his political demise later this year.
In a pre-dawn deal reached early yesterday, Olmert’s Kadima Party told the Labor Party that it would hold primary elections by Sept. 25. The primary is likely to oust Olmert as Kadima leader.
The deal came a month after Olmert’s popularity was dealt a severe blow by a US businessman’s testimony in a corruption case against him. The businessman said he handed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Olmert in cash-stuffed envelopes, in part to finance a lavish lifestyle that included a penchant for fancy hotels and cigars.
The Labor-Kadima agreement prompted Labor to rescind its support for a motion to dissolve the parliament, which had been expected to pass later yesterday.
Labor’s leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, threatened after last month’s dramatic court testimony to force new elections unless Olmert resigned or agreed to Kadima primaries.
The compromise allowed both Olmert and Barak to save face. Olmert can remain in office and keep his coalition intact, while Barak can tell supporters that he is forcing Kadima to change its leader.
Kadima officials say Olmert has not ruled out running in the party primary, hoping to clear his name after a cross-examination of the businessman, Morris Talansky, slated for July 17. But opinion polls show Olmert to be extremely unpopular — both within the party and among the general public — and unlikely to win.
His likely successor would be Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni or Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz.
Livni, the chief peace negotiator with the Palestinians, is expected to push forward with US-backed efforts to reach a final peace deal before US President George W. Bush leaves office. Mofaz, a former military chief, would most likely slow down or break off the talks with both the Palestinians and Syria.
The Labor-Kadima deal, which was overwhelmingly approved by Kadima members later yesterday, came after hours of intense talks overnight. It canceled the dispersal vote in parliament just hours before it was scheduled.
Although yesterday’s vote was considered only a preliminary move under parliamentary rules, Olmert had threatened to fire any government minister who supported the motion.
Such a move would have left Olmert without a parliamentary majority and begun a process that was expected to bring elections by the end of the year. Currently, elections are scheduled in 2010.
Speaking on Israel Radio yesterday, lawmakers Tzahi Hanegbi of Kadima and Eitan Cabel of Labor said the primary would be completed by Sept. 25. But Cabel said he was concerned that Israel’s political and security volatility could upset the process and somehow leave Olmert in place.
Political analyst Hanan Crystal said the looming Kadima primaries will not prevent Olmert from pushing the international community for tougher action against Iran for its nuclear program. Israel believes Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons.
Olmert will also persist in efforts to resume official peace talks with Syria. The two nations are holding indirect talks through Turkish mediators. Israel also could launch a military campaign in Hamas-controlled Gaza if a truce doesn’t hold.
“Ehud Olmert has what he wants, the big political exit he wanted, with Iran, with Syria and with Gaza,” Crystal told Israel Radio. “He is the legitimate prime minister for the entire summer.”
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS