Abbas and Olmert to meet in effort to isolate Hamas
Reuters Jun 21, 07 6:21 PM CDT
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Alarmed by the Hamas takeover in Gaza, Egypt will host a summit Monday, bringing together the Western-backed Palestinian president and the Israeli PM, along with Jordanian and Egyptian leaders, Reuters reports. The move is a show of support for the moderate Mamoud Abbas-led emergency government, and an effort to isolate Hamas, reports the AP.
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Soon-to-be-former PM would focus on groundwork for a Palestinian state
Washington Post Jun 21, 07 7:25 AM CDT
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Outgoing British PM Tony Blair may step into a new role as a Mideast envoy focusing on the development of a viable Palestinian state, the Washington Post reports. Blair would concentrate on economic and governance issues; he would represent the quartet of world players involved in Mideast peace efforts—the US, the UN, the EU and Russia.
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Israel considers picking up peace process as US resumes aid
Associated Press Jun 19, 07 8:05 AM CDT
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President Bush and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert will convene today to discuss future relations with a newly divided Palestine. The US has resumed aid to Mahmoud Abbas' moderate Fatah government, now balkanized from its militant Hamas rivals, and Olmert has signaled his a potential willingness to push peace negotiations by doing the same.
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Olmert government making plans for military action to destroy Hamas
Times (UK) Jun 18, 07 4:28 AM CDT
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The Israeli government is readying its army for an invasion of Gaza, in the wake of Hamas' victory in last week's civil war against Fatah there. The London Times , quoting Israeli military sources, says defense minister apparent Ehud Barak has drawn up plans for an incursion with 20,000 troops, who will meet 12,000 well-armed Hamas fighters.
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83-year-old former PM vows to unite country
Haaretz (Israel) Jun 13, 07 12:28 PM CDT
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The Knesset voted in Vice Premier Shimon Peres as president of Israel today, after his two rivals for the office dropped out. Peres, a former PM and Nobel laureate, says his job is to unite Israeli society and "expel despair from our midst." He follows Moshe Katsav, who stepped down from the office following rape allegations.
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Former PM will join cabinet, sets sight on top job again
Guardian (UK) Jun 13, 07 5:00 AM CDT
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Ehud Barak won a runoff election yesterday making him head of Israel's Labor Party once again. Barak, who edged out former Shin Bet boss Ari Ayalon, will join PM Ehud Olmert's coalition cabinet, probably as defense minister. But the Guardian reports that the serial party chief is widely expected to make a run for his old job in the next general election.
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Olmert denounces war, hints back-door deals may end in peace talks
Guardian (UK) Jun 7, 07 10:18 PM CDT
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Israel's PM deflected fears of a war with Syria today, and fueled semi-official rumors that peace talks are going on furtively between the two hostile countries. Olmert says he wants a sitdown with Syria—which would be the first in seven years—but warned president Assad that talks would not be an invitation to a land grab of territories lost in 1967.
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Peretz loses to Olmert critics; party threatens to quit government
BBC May 29, 07 5:14 AM CDT
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Ehud Olmert was the biggest loser as the Israeli Labor party yesterday ousted its current leader, Defense Minister Amir Peretz, in favor of two stauncher critics of Israel's uneasy coalition government. The vote yielded a runoff between former PM Ehud Barak and former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon, both of whom say they'll withdraw Labor from the government unless Olmert resigns.
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Guardian (UK) May 4, 07 7:45 AM CDT
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A massive demonstration in Tel Aviv yesterday amplified the cry for Israel's PM Ehud Olmert to resign. Tens of thousands of Israelis packed into Rabin Square to denounce Olmert's handling of last year's Lebanon War, in the wake of the highly critical Winograd Commission report. Polls are showing three quarters of Israelis want their PM out.
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Haaretz (Israel) May 3, 07 7:02 AM CDT
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Israel's foreign minister has called on Ehud Olmert to resign, the highest ranking Kadima party official to call for his ouster. Tzipi Livni, who also serves as deputy prime minister, says she's prepared to stand to replace Olmert in the wake of the damning Winograd report. But the majority of Kadima Knesset members continue to back the embattled leader.
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Israeli cabinet member resigns, urges embattled PM to follow
Christian Science Monitor May 1, 07 7:49 AM CDT
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Israel’s investigation into last summer’s bungled war in Lebanon has produced a firestorm of criticism directed at Ehud Olmert, who is now fighting for his political survival. The Winograd Commission’s initial report accused the prime minister of “supreme and comprehensive personal responsibility” for the war’s failure.
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Report critical of Lebanon war may
doom Israeli PM
Haaretz (Israel) Apr 30, 07 7:40 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Ehud Olmert may be forced out of office to avoid dragging the Kadima party down with him, Haaretz reports. Quoting a senior party official, the newspaper says the Israeli Prime Minister may resign this summer as part of the fallout from a government report on the run-up to and conduct of last summer’s war in Lebanon.
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PM's office distances itself from
speaker's promise of talks
Jerusalem Post (Israel) Apr 5, 07 10:46 AM CDT
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The Israeli PM is backing off from Nancy Pelosi's suggestion yesterday that an Israeli-Syrian summit is in the offing. Pelosi told reporters that she had conveyed to Syria's Bashar al-Assad a message that Ehud Olmert was "ready to engage in peace talks." Olmert's office quickly responded that it hadn't communicated any change in its Syria policy to the house speaker.
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House Speaker ends US boycott and meets with Syrian president
BBC Apr 4, 07 10:14 AM CDT
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says Syria is ready to resume peace talks with Israel, based on her meeting with President Bashar al-Assad, the BBC reports. Flying in the face of Bush's Syrian boycott, Pelosi and a congressional delegation are in Damascus meeting with top leaders. Bush said the visit undermined US foreign policy.
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Cites Saudi peace
plan as positive step
Haaretz (Israel) Apr 2, 07 1:06 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Ehud Olmert says he's keen for multilateral talks with Arab leaders, after a Saudi summit last week produced the outlines of a peace plan, Haaretz reports. "The readiness to accept Israel as a fact and to debate the terms of a future solution is a step that I cannot help but appreciate," the PM told a press conference yesterday.
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