Olmert gov't teetering amid coalition infighting
Source: Ha'aretz
April 08, 2007
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government is again flirting with early elections as a result of escalating tensions between coalition partners Labor and Yisrael Beiteinu.
Addressing his party colleagues on Saturday, Labor chief Amir Peretz said he had made a mistake by not seeing through his opposition to Yisrael Beiteinu's inclusion in the government last October.
Peretz and other Labor leaders were furious when Olmert brought in Avigdor Lieberman's right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu in an effort to shore up his failing administration in the wake of the botched Second Lebanon War.
However, Peretz was swayed by those who said Labor could be more effective in countering Lieberman's policies as a member of the government, and so did not follow through on threats to bolt the coalition.
That, said Peretz, was the biggest mistake he had made thus far as Labor chairman.
Yisrael Beiteinu responded a day later with a statement urging Peretz to correct his "mistake" and quit the government.
Were Peretz to lead Labor out of the coalition, Olmert would find himself at the head of a 59-seat minority government, significantly increasing the chances of early elections.
Recent opinion polls reveal that most Israelis want early elections, and that this time around, the public would firmly place Binyamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party at the helm.
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