Wants snap elections. Netanyahu
Photo: AFP
Political ploy? Olmert
Photo: GPO
Netanyahu calls for new elections
'This government has reached an end and it doesn't matter who heads Kadima,' opposition leader says, adding 'national responsibility requires a return to the people'. Ramon: Chances of holding new vote high
Israel's right-wing Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu called on Thursday for a new parliamentary election after Ehud Olmert pledged to resign following his party's leadership contest in September.
Peace Talks
Right-wing MKs slam prime minister's announcement he will continue to pursue peace talks with Palestinians, Syria despite having pledged to step down after Kadima primary elections
Dogged by corruption scandals, the Israeli prime minister's decision to bow out of the centrist Kadima party's leadership contest on Sept. 17 and then step down plunged the Middle East peace talks and Israeli politics into limbo.
Recent opinion polls suggest Netanyahu's Likud party, a critic of Olmert's peace moves with the Palestinians and Syria, would win a snap election.
"This government has reached an end and it doesn't matter who heads Kadima. They are all partners in this government's total failure," Netanyahu told Israeli Radio.
"National responsibility requires a return to the people and new elections."
Vice Premier Haim Ramon, a Kadima party leader and Olmert confidant, told Army Radio: "I believe the chance of holding new elections is high."
Olmert, who could stay on as a caretaker prime minister for months while his Kadima successor struggles to cobble together a new coalition, has vowed not to "ease up" on peacemaking.
The White House said its goal of getting Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to reach a peace deal this year was unchanged.
'A strategic move'
Having declared his intention to resign, Olmert would lack the political strength to make commitments, either in final-status talks with Abbas or indirect negotiations with Syria, analysts say.
Four Kadima ministers, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, have launched campaigns to replace Olmert in the Sept. 17 vote.
Polls have shown Livni, Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, ahead within Kadima.
Olmert has faced weeks of public pressure to resign over probes into suspicions he took bribes from an American businessman. Olmert has denied any wrongdoing, and vowed on Wednesday to fight for his innocence.
Olmert's successor as Kadima party leader would not automatically take over as prime minister.
He or she must first cobble together a coalition government, a challenge that could prove time-consuming and complicated because of bitter divisions within parliament.
Analysts say this process could drag on for months, possibly into next year if a parliamentary election is called.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, head of the left-of-centre Labor party and Olmert's largest coalition partner, told CNN that it was "not yet clear whether there will be election in three or four months from now" if Olmert steps down.
Netanyahu, a former prime minister, could try to build his own coalition to stymie Kadima.
Some analysts saw Olmert's plan as a ploy to remain in power despite controversy over the police probes.
"Looking at Olmert's history, this is a strategic move," said Professor Gerald Steinberg of Israel's Bar Ilan University.
If the new head of Kadima fails to set up a coalition, "then he will be called back or he will become ... The acting prime minister until there are elections", Steinberg said.
