Israelis would vote Ehud Olmert out of office if elections were held now, polls indicated today, as the defiant prime minister defended his performance in the Lebanon war and lashed out at his critics.

Israeli forces stormed two synagogues in the Gaza Strip where hundreds of settlers had holed up, hoping to clear the last major bastions of resistance to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to end Israel’s 38-year occupation of the Gaza Strip.