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Oust-Olmert campaign

— PHOTO: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (left), talks with Vice-Premier Shimon Peres in the Knesset on Thursday.

Jerusalem: The campaign to oust Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shifted to the streets on Thursday, with a mass rally in Tel Aviv expected to draw tens of thousands of opponents calling for the embattled Israeli leader's head. Mr. Olmert, under fire for his handling of last summer's war against Lebanese guerillas, appeared to be quashing an incipient rebellion against him in the ranks of his Kadima Party — at least for now. On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a party heavyweight, called on him to quit, and another top party figure, parliamentary coalition chief Avigdor Yitzhaki, resigned to protest his refusal to step down. But other Kadima officials rallied around their beleaguered chief, no doubt mindful that a widespread mutiny could lead to early elections that could land the party on the skids. Polls indicate the hawkish former Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the Opposition Likud Party, would win if new elections were held.

— AP

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