Olmert Just Resigned

[mord]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3575560,00.html   

Olmert announces will step down after Kadima primaries

In dramatic public address, Olmert announces Wednesday evening he will not seek reelection in upcoming Kadima primaries. Confirming he will step down once new chairman is elected, Olmert pledges fight to clear his name
Attila Somfalvi

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert  announced on Wednesday evening he would not seek reelection in the upcoming Kadima  primaries. Olmert said he would step down after a new chairman is elected within his party on September 17th.

"I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections," Olmert said in a surprise announcement from his official residence in Jerusalem.

"When a new (Kadima party) chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively."

"I want to make it clear – I am proud to be a citizen of a country where the prime minister can be investigated like a regular citizen," Olmert said. "It is the duty of the police to investigate, and the duty of the prosecution to instruct the police. The prime minister is not above the law."

"I will step aside properly in an honourable and responsible way, and afterwards I will prove my innocence," he said.

"From my first day in office I was forced to defend myself against relentless attacks from self-appointed 'fighters for justice' who sought to depose me from my position, when the ends sanctified all the means.''

"I continue to believe with all my heart that the achievement of peace, combating terror, strengthening our security, and the realization of a different type of relationship with our neighbors are all necessary goals for the future of the State of Israel."

Timing is everything
A senior law enforcement official said in an interview with Ynet that one of the reasons for the timing chosen by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to announce his resignation may have to do with the new investigation against him.

"It's going to be a serious investigation; perhaps the most serious investigation so far. Olmert will have to handle questions and facts he has not dealt with so far," the official said.

Another official added that Olmert did not receive additional investigation material because he would have a difficult time dealing with questions he knew he was going to be asked during the investigation.

The official claimed that police were prepared to submit the cases formed by the two investigations against Olmert to the State Prosecutor's Office within the next few weeks, along with a recommendation to indict the prime minister.

Olmert is scheduled to undergo a fourth round of questioning by the National Fraud Unit on Friday at 10 am. Questions are expected to focus on new material gathered for the 'Olmertours' investigation in the US.

'You can't run a country this way'
Prior to his announcement on Wednesday, Olmert became enraged in the Knesset and said, "This is terrible, you can't run a country this way." According to coalition members, the prime minister was angry at the recent losses suffered by the government and coalition in recent bill proposals, the costs of which are estimated at billions of shekels.

Olmert's associates claimed that "the Labor Party got on his nerves," and senior Kadima Party officials slammed the Labor's behavior. "Their behavior is lawless. You can't act this way. The Labor is every coalition's nightmare," one official said. Their grievances were based partly on the party's bill proposals, such as the recent bill calling for the extenuation of maternity leave, which may cost the State millions.

"These laws will cost a fortune," Olmert said during the Knesset discussion. "Who will pay for this? Where is the social responsibility?" Sources said the prime minister appeared infuriated, but neglected to point out the steps he planned to take in order to remedy the situation.

Olmert is currently under two separate criminal investigations. One involves suspicions that he took bribes from American businessman Morris Talansky and the other, dubbed 'Olmertours' by the media, charges him with submitting duplicate claims for travel expenses during his former office as trade minister and mayor of Jerusalem.

Olmert has denied wrongdoing with respect to the police probes, but has said he would resign if indicted.

The prime minister has chosen to address the nation while his chief political opponents are away. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are currently visiting the US.

Livni had planned to make a press statement following her meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the head of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' negotiating team, but has recently announced that she would postpone it, apparently due to Olmert's public address.

[Ben Yehuda]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080730/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_politics

[White Israelite]

September is not soon enough, he needs to resign now!

[Muck DeFuslims]

Here's the Jerusalem Post's story:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331146843&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

This actually isn't much of a surprise.

What remains to be seen is who will emerge as the next leader of Kadima.
Chances are it will be Livni or Mofaz.

After that is determined Kadima will have to try to form a coalition. If Kadima can't form a coalition, then Israel will go to general elections.

If general elections happen, then Olmert remains in the office of Prime Minister until at least Jan 2009.

Hopefully, Kadima will fail to form a coalition government, and a more right wing government can be established after general elections.

However, the landscape of electable true rightwing Israeli politicians is so barren, the system so corrupt, and the media so dominated by leftists, that any meaningful change is only a remote possibility.

But it's still good to see Smolmert go.

[SavetheWest]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_politics

[IslamIsCancer]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_politics

His follower is going to be even worse.

[SavetheWest]

And he's part of the "centrist" Kadima government?  G-D help Israel if Ehud Barak and the Labor Party broker a peace deal backed by the Syrians and Borax Osama. 

[Zelhar]

That is actually bad news. As evil as he is, Smolmert is in a very weak position and incapable of executing his national suicidal plans. His replacer might actually take advantage on the promises and talks that Smolmert has conducted with Syria and close a quick deal with Syrian God forbid.

[cjd]

The article said he will still be in office for some time possibly into to 09. It also said his resignation sort of puts him in a lame duck status and would make it harder for him to close any land surrender deals. I think the timing could have been better for this. It seems that Israel and America may be getting new leadership at about the same time. With all that's going on I see this as problematic. While its good that this development may stall off the land surrender process for now it also leaves in question who takes up this issue in the next administrations.

[Dan]

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud SmOlmert on Wednesday said in a televised address to the nation that he will not run in his Kadima Party’s upcoming mid-September primary and will immediately following that election step down to make way for the winner.

In a speech most of the Israeli press curiously characterized as “dignified,” Olmert lashed out at political opponents for having chased him out of office, while remaining adamant in his refusal to take responsibility for any of his shortcomings, failures or improprieties.

In fact, Olmert maintained his innocence in each of the six corruption investigations still opened against him, and insisted that his premiership had been marked by tremendous achievements that had left Israel better and stronger than when he took office.

Closer analysis of what some reports said amounted to a resignation, however, suggested that Olmert may have perpetrated a clever ruse aimed at keeping himself in office for at least another nine months.

While Olmert did promise to step down following the Kadima primary, that move was conditioned on the winner of the internal election successfully forming a new majority government. It is widely believed that both of the Kadima leadership frontrunners, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, will have great difficulty accomplishing that task.

Should the winner of the primary fail to form a new majority government, Olmert will by default remain prime minister of the current government until new national elections can be held, probably in March or April of next year. Olmert made no commitment to refrain from running in that election, if it takes place.

Also sidestepped was the fact that Olmert made no promise to leave politics, but only to step down as prime minister for the time being. Even if his successor as Kadima chairman manages to form a new government, Olmert is expected to remain a Knesset member and representative of the party, free to contest the leadership position at some future date.

Giving credence to the theories that Olmert is planning to retain or regain power in the future is his insistence on continuing to make far-reaching commitments and concessions to the Arabs in order to hastily conclude a peace deal by the end of the year.

If Olmert succeeds in overseeing some kind of peace deal, regardless of how unfavorable its conditions, he will reclaim legitimacy in the eyes of enough Israelis to stay in office or win a future election.

[AsheDina]

This is great news. If they wont let Chaim go there, why cant they let David ben Moshe become the PM? He will take care of Israel NP.

[Gruzinit]

Unfortunately, this comes two years and two dead soldiers too late. Olmert has single-handly done to Israel in two years what took  the G.O.P. eight years to do to the U.S.

[Dan]

That's Great!
     who's the next capo of Israel?