But pressure on the Israeli prime minister will eventually become unbearable, says philip jacobson |
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As the political ground continues to crumble beneath Ehud Olmert's feet, the besieged Israeli PM is still resisting pressure for him to step down in the wake of the mauling he received from the official commission investigating the mishandling of last summer's disastrous war in Lebanon.
Despite an approval rating heading for zero, Olmert appears confident he can ride out the storm ahead of today's debate on the report in the Knesset (parliament).
The writing seemed to be on the wall when Olmert's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, revealed that on Wednesday she had spent 90 minutes trying to persuade him to quit. A fiercely ambitious former Mossad agent, Livni is clearly positioning herself for a run at the leadership of the ruling Kadima party, though she was savvy enough to stress that "I am not working to topple the prime minister."
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| Olmert, who is generally regarded as a colourless figure of questionable personal morality |
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Israeli observers do not rule out the possibility that Olmert would be ready to sacrifice his defence minister, Amir Peretz - who was also savaged by the commission and has lost the confidence of the military - to stay in power.
Although most ordinary Israelis would love to see the back of Olmert, who is generally regarded as a colourless figure of questionable personal morality, widespread apathy and the glaring absence of any broadly acceptable candidate to replace him could prolong the political crisis. Though Livni, a 48-year-old mother of two, has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence, she is still relatively inexperienced and is seen as an opportunist.
With Kadima party members still backing him, Olmert could well limp on for another few months, however damaging that would be, before the other parties in his shaky coalition government summon up the resolve to bring him down. This would guarantee further paralysis in the process of kick-starting renewed peace negotiations with the Palestinians. 
FIRST POSTED MAY 3, 2007
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