In the midst of the controversy surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, he is continuing to lose the much needed support. There may be new elections possibly held as a result of the corruption scandal surrounding Olmert. Is not long ago that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak had given Olmert an ultimatum.
Barak’s ultimatum was that Olmert needs to step down as Israel’s Prime Minister. Olmert would have to step down under the ultimatum. If not, Barak threatened to use his influence to bring down Israel’s government. But, Olmert had remained defiant saying that he is innocent. Olmert said he would resign if he is found guilty of the charges against him.
Israeli Defense Minister Tzipi Livni, of Olmert’s Kadima Party did not call for Olmert’s resignation. However, Livni has withdrawn her support for Olmert. She gave warning that a new vote may be on its way. Livni is one of the few if not the only top leaders of Kadima that refuses to voice support for Olmert.
However, Olmert has yet to speak on Livni’s remarks. It could be fair to say that Olmert inevitably may have to leave office in the near future. In addition, this could hurt the talks with Syria and Palestine as the three are trying to work out a peace agreement.
Finally, with Israel being one of the topics for the foreign policy issue, this could end up as one of the hot topics for the 2008 US Presidential Elections.
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