Party 'lost way under Olmert'
2008-07-29 07:33
Jerusalem - Israeli Foreign Minister
Tzipi Livni stepped up a campaign to oust Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, charging on Monday that their centrist Kadima party had
lost its way under his leadership.
Livni, a favourite in public opinion polls to succeed
Olmert, whose tenure has been threatened by a series of
corruption probes, spoke at a rally in Jerusalem ahead of a
party leadership vote scheduled for mid-September.
"The sense of hope that had been a part of the establishment
of Kadima has been lost along the way," Livni said, according to
a transcript of her remarks released by a spokesperson on Monday.
The Kadima party was founded by former Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon in 2005 after Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip split
his rightwing Likud party. Olmert took over in January 2006 when
Sharon fell into a coma after a stroke.
Livni heads to Washington on Tuesday for talks with
Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie and US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, who is pressing the sides to reach a peace
deal before President George W Bush's term ends in January.
Israeli Channel 2 television reported on Monday night that
three of Sharon's close aides had opted to advise Livni as she
contests the Kadima party leadership.
Police investigations of Olmert have weakened his political
authority. Accused of accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from a
US fundraiser and making duplicate claims for travel expenses,
Olmert denies wrongdoing, but says he will resign if indicted.
Livni told the party forum she was not sure the US aim to
reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year could be met.
"The best efforts will be made to meet the 2008 target, but
what is most important is the issue of substance," a Livni aide
quoted her as saying.
Livni said Israel favoured the establishment of a
Palestinian state on land now occupied by Israel, but objected
to demands for Palestinian refugees to return to their former
homes in what is now the Jewish state, a key issue in the
negotiations.
Livni first called for Olmert to resign a year ago when a
commission faulted his handling of the 2006 war with Lebanon's
Hezbollah guerrillas.
If she defeats Olmert, who has still not announced whether
he will stand in the party vote, Livni, a former Mossad
intelligence operative, could become Israel's first woman prime
minister since the late Golda Meir in the early 1970's.
But Livni could face a tough challenge in any leadership
contest from Shaul Mofaz, transport minister and former defence
chief known for his tough tactics in crushing a Palestinian
uprising that erupted after peace talks failed in 2000.
Olmert may be forced to resign if Kadima elects a new
leader. That could trigger an early national election if his
successor failed to forge a new coalition government. The next
scheduled general election is in 2010.