Olmert calls emergency Cabinet meeting

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet this morning in a desperate attempt to hold on to power.

The meeting follows a scathing report on his handling of last year's war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.

This week's report has fuelled a growing chorus of calls for Mr Olmert's resignation, including from members of his coalition government. A top politician in Mr Olmert's Kadima Party became the highest-ranking official to urge Mr Olmert to step down, and party officials said Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a party heavyweight, would follow suit.

The 34-day war has been widely perceived as a failure. Monday's report said Mr Olmert bore ultimate responsibility, accusing him of poor judgment, hasty decision making and lack of vision.

Two new polls published in Israeli newspapers said some two-thirds of Israelis wanted Mr Olmert to resign immediately. The surveys indicated that the hawkish former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the opposition Likud Party, would likely win if new elections were held.

Since the report was issued, Mr Olmert has been scrambling to hold his coalition government together. One minister from the Labour Party, the junior coalition partner, has already quit, and there have been increasing signs of eroding support within Kadima.

In a new blow to Mr Olmert, the chairman of Kadima's parliamentary faction, Avigdor Yitzhaki, called for the prime minister's head.

"In order for Kadima to return to being a legitimate ruling party and for the sake of the Prime Minister and for the sake of the entire country, I think the prime minister has to resign," he told Israel Radio. "He has to take this responsibility and resign."

Mr Yitzhaki said if Mr Olmert failed to do so immediately he would resign from his post as chairman of his coalition. Yesterday, another Kadima politician, Marina Solodkin, also urged Mr Olmert to step down.

But Ms Livni, the foreign minister, was emerging as the biggest threat to Mr Olmert's survival. Livni, who has stayed silent since the explosive report was released, is Kadima's most popular politician and may be seen as the party's best hope of retaining power. Livni aides said she planned to meet with Mr Olmert later today.

At today's Cabinet session, Mr Olmert was expected to appoint a committee to look into the findings of the report, which was compiled by a five-member commission headed by a retired judge.

But the appointment of a new committee seemed unlikely to overshadow the rising tide of demands that he quit, which began not long after the costly but inconclusive war, in which almost 4,000 Hezbollah rockets landed in Israel and nearly 160 Israelis were killed.