PM double-billed travel, police allege
Times (UK) Nov 26, 08 1:26 PM CST
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Outgoing PM Ehud Olmert will be charged with fraud, abuse of confidence, and falsification of documents, Israel’s attorney general said today, a move that could force Olmert to leave office sooner than his intended February departure, the Times reports. The scandal—involving Olmert’s political appointments, travel expenses, and a real-estate deal—is one of several that forced him to resign.
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In region, Rice aims to keep process on track for Obama's team
Associated Press Nov 6, 08 4:46 PM CST
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Israel and the Palestinians won’t likely reach a peace agreement by the 2009 deadline set at the Annapolis negotiations a year ago, the White House said today. The Bush administration began to question the feasibility of the deadline when a corruption scandal ousted PM Ehud Olmert and set the stage for a new leader to be chosen in February, AP reports.
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Nation must relinquish land for lasting peace, says exiting PM
Haaretz (Israel) Sep 29, 08 7:55 PM CDT
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Israel must give up nearly all the land it seized in 1967 to forge peace with the Palestinians, said outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The nation must relinquish most of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights—or compensate the Palestinians and Syrians with Israeli territory, said Olmert, who announced his resignation last week. "In the end, we will have to withdraw from the most decisive areas," he said
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Bomb attack against professor shows new right-wing militancy
New York Times Sep 26, 08 10:17 AM CDT
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A pipe bomb exploded Wednesday night outside the Jerusalem home of a dovish Israeli professor—where authorities also found fliers promising a $300,000 reward to anyone who killed members of a leftist advocacy group. The attack is the latest sign that right-wing settlers are resorting to extremist tactics to show the Israeli government that they will not be removed from their settlements in the West Bank, the New York Times reports.
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Prez refused plea to back bombing of nuke facilities
Guardian (UK) Sep 26, 08 3:00 AM CDT
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Israel asked Washington for a green light to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities but was told no, reports the Guardian . Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made the request in a private meeting with President Bush in May, but Bush feared air strikes over several days would lead to full-scale war and terrorist attacks in the US.
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He may remain as 'caretaker' PM for weeks or months
Reuters Sep 21, 08 6:26 AM CDT
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Scandal-plagued Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced today that he will step down. "This was not an easy decision," he said. Olmert, who faces criminal corruption charges, must now submit his resignation to President Shimon Peres, but he may remain as a caretaker prime minister for weeks or even months as a new government is formed, Reuters reports. Olmert's likely successor will be Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has replaced him as Kadima party leader.
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ANALYSIS
But Livni faces uphill climb if she becomes prime minister
Jerusalem Post (Israel) Sep 18, 08 8:39 AM CDT
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When she cast her ballot yesterday, Tzipi Livni took a page from Barack Obama and told the Israeli media that party members should "bring about change by voting for what you believe in." Now, writes an analyst in the Jerusalem Post , Israel's prime minister-designate has a tough job: not only to bring peace to the Middle East, but to reform a political system tainted by the corruption of Ehud Olmert.
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She would be Israel's first female PM since Golda Meir
Reuters Sep 17, 08 5:51 PM CDT
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Tzipi Livni declared victory today in her party's primary and is on track to become Israel's first female prime minister in more than 30 years, Reuters reports. Livini, currently the foreign minister, comfortably won the Kadima Party election to decide who will replace scandal-plagued Ehud Olmert. Final results aren't yet in, but she apparently received far more than enough votes to avoid a runoff.
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Leads in polls to take over from Olmert
New York Times Sep 17, 08 3:03 AM CDT
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The main party in Israel's coalition government is poised today to choose 50-year-old foreign minister Tzipi Livni as Kadima party leader and new prime minister. She'll have a matter of weeks to construct a new coalition government or risk an election defeat by the right-wing Likud party, reports the New York Times .
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GLOSSIES
Close friend or just another donor, Talansky was key player in Israeli PM's downfall
New York Sep 15, 08 5:33 PM CDT
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Morris Talansky counted Ehud Olmet as a true friend, and he says his devotion was returned. The nature of the longstanding relationship between the Long Island rabbi and the Israeli prime minister varies according to who’s describing it, Steve Fishman writes in New York . But what everyone agrees on is that the way Talansky showed his devotion—"cash envelopes" adding up to $150,000—was key in driving Olmert out of office .
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Resignation expected soon
Guardian (UK) Sep 8, 08 3:09 AM CDT
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Israeli police are recommending that embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be indicted for bribery, money laundering and fraud, reports the Guardian. The final decision on what action to take after the 18-month investigation rests with the nation's attorney general. Olmert has already indicated he will resign within days.
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Freed prisoners intended to shore up Fatah PM Abbas; some in Israel fuming
AFP Aug 25, 08 9:09 AM CDT
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Israel today released 198 Palestinian prisoners in an effort to bolster Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, the AFP reports. The release, on the eve of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, included two prisoners held since the late 1970s who were convicted of murdering Israelis. One of them, a Fatah party member who killed an Israeli settler in Hebron, was elected to parliament in 2006.
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