ISRAEL:EMBATTLED PRIME minister Ehud Olmert staved off the threat of early elections and quietened predictions of his imminent demise yesterday when he agreed to hold a run-off for the leadership of his ruling centrist Kadima party by late September.
The agreement between Mr Olmert and Labor Party leader and defence minister Ehud Barak, meant that Labor withdrew its support for a bill that would have set in motion the dissolution of parliament and significantly increased the likelihood of an early general election. A preliminary reading of the bill to dissolve parliament had been scheduled for yesterday, but without Labor's support it lacked a majority.
The compromise deal, which was sealed in late night negotiations, means that Mr Olmert is able to keep his governing coalition intact for now and ensures there will not be an election this year. Until yesterday, most politicians and political pundits had predicted an election by November, which would have been two years ahead of the scheduled date of November 2010.
With Mr Olmert facing corruption charges, Mr Barak called in late May for him to step down. He said he would push for early elections if the Kadima party did not set a date for leadership primaries to replace the prime minister. Earlier this week, the prime minister threatened to fire Labor ministers if they voted in favour of the bill to dissolve parliament - a move that would have left him with a minority government.
With Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the centre-right Likud party, holding a big lead over Mr Barak in opinion polls, the Labor leader prefers not to go to elections right now, but was under intense pressure to back an early poll because of the allegations against Mr Olmert. He is hoping that Kadima will choose a new leader in September, that Mr Olmert will step aside and that his successor will then try to reconstitute a government with Labor.
Kadima members close to Mr Olmert said yesterday it was unlikely he would run in the party primary, which must be held no later than September 25th.
Mr Olmert is being investigated on charges of having received hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from Morris Talansky, a US businessman, to cover, among other things, personal expenses. Mr Olmert, who received the money before he became prime minister, has insisted the funds were used to cover campaign expenses and has said he will step down if indicted. He is hoping his lawyers can undermine Mr Talansky's testimony when they cross-question him on July 17th and that this will spark a revival of his political fortunes.
Mr Barak yesterday ordered the closing of the crossings through which goods are transported into Gaza after Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel on Tuesday in the first major breach of a week-old truce between Israel and Hamas. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the firing of three rockets, saying it was retaliation for the death of one of its senior commanders, who was killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank on Tuesday.
According to the terms of the truce, the temporary calm agreed by the sides does not apply to the West Bank, only to Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.