Israel’s foreign minister urged Ehud Olmert to quit.
In the biggest challenge yet to the prime minister’s rule, Tzipi Livni revealed Wednesday that she had advised Olmert to step down after a commission of inquiry blasted his performance during last summer’s Lebanon war.
“I told the prime minister that I thought to resign was the right thing to do,” Livni told reporters. “There are others saying what I have been saying. I believe the prime minister listens to things that are said. I don’t know what the outcome will be.”
Livni said she would oppose calling early elections, preferring to see Olmert’s Kadima Party stay in power.
“Kadima needs to choose its leadership in a democratic manner, in a primary, and when the time comes I plan to submit my candidacy,” Livni said. “Now is the time to restore the public’s trust in the government.”
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