Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government Labour, in the midst of its own power struggle, is the largest partner in Olmert's coalition government and its withdrawal could force new elections. Israel's next general election is not due until 2010. The head of Labour, Defence Minister Amir Peretz, is considering stepping down from his post in response to the Lebanon war report.
| Increasingly unpopular within his own party, Peretz could be forced out when Labour holds internal elections on May 28. |
Some coalition members have suggested that they would stick by Olmert because they might lose significant parliamentary clout if fresh elections were held now. Olmert's approval ratings have plummeted into the single digits and his deputy, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, this week joined calls for his removal. Labour party member Ofir Pines and several other Labour leaders said that Olmert must go, even if it means early elections. "We will make an effort to build a new coalition and a new government. If we won't be able to do so, we will have to have early elections," Pines told Reuters. "It is not the best option but it's a better option than to stay with the present government."
Danny Yatom, also a candidate for Labour party leadership, said that as long
| As long as Labour stays in the coalition, it gives legitimacy to a government that has lost the support of the Israeli people. |
Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Friday that he had no intention of resigning despite a mass rally that called on him to step down over a scathing Lebanon war report. "The prime minister does not intend to resign, these are speculations," Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin told AFP.
| "The prime minister listens attentively to everything that happens and is trying to react in the best interests of the state of Israel." |
Late Thursday between 150,000 and 200,000 demonstrators, according to police and organiser estimates, gathered in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square calling on Olmert to quit after a government inquiry blasted him for serious failure during last year's war against Lebanon's Hezbollah. It was the first mass demonstration calling for Olmert's ouster since the report was published on Monday.