Livni and Olmert at Knesset Thursday. Rocky relations
Photo: Gil Yohanan
I thought of resigning, Livni says
Foreign minister tells reporters she considered stepping down, but eventually changed her mind. 'Resignation is a form of protest, not necessarily an act of leadership,' she states
"I contemplated resigning, but eventually changed my mind," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters at the Knesset Thursday. A day earlier, Livni spurred criticism when she called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign,
but failed to do the same herself.
"There is no certainty that had I quit, the prime minister would have resigned as well," she explained.
Livni said that her relations with the prime minister were not at their best. "There should be more updates on security issues," she stated.
According to Livni, "Resignation is a form of protest, not necessarily an act of leadership." She said that she may still resign in the future, and that she did not want to confront Olmert with an ultimatum, "although I realized that there was a chance he might fire me."
Despite Livni's statement Wednesday and the resignation of Kadima member and coalition chairman Avigdor Itzchaky, Olmert was able to secure the support of the majority of his faction members at a meeting on Wdnesday night.
