Barak applauds Olmert decision to step down

Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak has not ruled out replacing Ehud Olmert as the country’s prime minister.

Mr Barak, who was Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001, met UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon before taking questions from reporters on his visit and on Mr Olmert’s resignation.

Mr Olmert, facing corruption allegations and low approval ratings after repeatedly denying wrongdoing, announced yesterday he will step down in September.

“If or when in about six weeks a new leader will be elected for his party, he will step down. I think that this is a proper and responsible decision, made at the right time,” Mr Barak told reporters.

The decision adds uncertainty to the US-backed Mideast peace efforts, and sets up a possible race between Mr Barak and Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who also is expected to visit the UN today.

Mr Barak would only say when asked if he wanted his old job back that “we support our state and want to protect it.”

He added: “We will assist every opportunity to move forward.”

Mr Olmert revealed yesterday he would not run in his party’s primary election, set for September 17, and would step down afterwards to allow his successor to form a government.

However, because of Israel’s political system, he could serve until well into next year.

Mr Olmert’s popularity dropped below 20% at one point after his bloody but inconclusive war in Lebanon in 2006, and a string of corruption allegations and police interrogations have battered him in recent months.

Political analysts here had been predicting his resignation for weeks, as details of the latest allegations against him dominated local news.

The most damaging probe focuses on Morris Talansky, a 76-year-old American Jewish businessman who testified that he handed envelopes stuffed with tens of thousands of dollars in cash to Mr Olmert before he became prime minister, in part financing a luxurious lifestyle of expensive hotels and fat cigars.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is not ruling out another Mideast summit or US-backed initiative before its time is up and is still pursuing a wide-ranging deal between Israel and the Palestinians this year, a State Department spokesman said yesterday.

Despite the political upheaval in Israel, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in Washington, seeking to preserve modest momentum in Mideast peace talks begun under US sponsorship last year.

Mr Olmert called President George Bush yesterday, and President Bush offered his support and thanks, said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

Mr Johndroe said the president intends to continue to work closely with the Israeli leader until his departure.

“Relations between the United States and Israel during Prime Minister Olmert’s tenure have been exceptionally close and cooperative, and the president has appreciated his friendship, his leadership, and his work for peace,” Mr Johndroe said.

“We’re confident that the close United States Israel relationship will continue in the future.”

Mr Johndroe pointed to Rice’s meetings as evidence that the US would be unflagging in its efforts for a peace accord. “We will continue to work on a deal before the end of the year,” he said.