Pressure mounts on Olmert to resign

Source: AP, 17-1-2007
JERUSALEM (AL-QUDS) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense (War) Minister Amir Peretz came under renewed pressure to resign Wednesday after the "Israeli" army`s chief of staff stepped down in the wake of the flawed Lebanon war.
The sudden departure of "Israel`s" top military official, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, delivered another setback to the prime minister, whose popularity has plummeted following last summer`s war and a string of political scandals. On Tuesday, "Israel`s" attorney general opened a criminal probe into Olmert`s role in a 2005 bank privatization.
Halutz stepped down after dozens of internal inquiries into the monthlong Lebanon war found widespread problems in the military`s performance. Halutz had previously rejected calls to resign, despite the growing loss of confidence of his political superiors and subordinates in the army.
With Halutz on his way out, critics quickly clamored for the heads of the country`s other wartime leaders, Olmert and Peretz.
"The war clearly was mismanaged, and when a war is clearly mismanaged, there is no doubt the chief of staff is responsible," said opposition lawmaker Ran Cohen, a former high-ranking military officer. "The responsibility is shared by him, the prime minister and the defense minister, and sooner or later, they, too, will have to leave."
Peretz expressed regret Halutz`s decision, but he warned "Israel`s" enemies not to misinterpret the move.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony for naval commanders in Haifa, Peretz said Halutz`s decision was "premature."
"I am sorry he won`t be with us to complete the task" of restoring the army after the failures of the summer`s war in Lebanon, Peretz said.
Peretz, who is also under fire about the war, had a message for "Israel`s" enemies. "Do not misinterpret the army chief`s decision to resign as a sign of weakness," he said.
Olmert made a routine appearance at parliament, sparring with lawmakers over unrelated domestic issues and promising to appoint a new military chief within days. Peretz said he would begin interviewing candidates for the vacant military post immediately.
But pressure on Olmert and Peretz is likely to increase ahead of the release of a wide-ranging government inquiry into the war. The investigative panel, focusing on the performance of military and political leaders, is expected to announce its conclusions in the coming weeks.
"Halutz`s step was unavoidable, but he was not the only one responsible for the failures of the war - the government was too," lawmaker Ophir Pines-Paz, a member of Peretz`s Labor Party, told Army Radio.
He stopped short of calling on Olmert and Peretz to resign, saying he wanted to wait for the government panel to reach its conclusions.
An opinion poll published last week showed Olmert`s approval rating at just 14 percent, and his Kadima Party losing if new elections were held.
Peretz`s public standing, meanwhile, is equally dismal. The former union leader won the defense portfolio under a coalition deal with Olmert`s Kadima Party, despite his scant military experience.
The war`s many flaws only cemented sweeping doubts about his fitness to serve as defense minister, and he now faces multiple challenges to his leadership within his own Labor Party, which is scheduled to hold primaries for chairman in May.
Both Peretz and Olmert "are in a very shaky position," said political scientist Avraham Diskin of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (al-Quds).
"Israel" went into the war with a united front against Lebanese Hizbullah just hours after they killed three "Israeli" soldiers and captured two in a July 12 cross-border raid, but that solidarity collapsed after the fighting ended.
Critics questioned whether Olmert moved too hastily with a full-scale campaign that ended without achieving its declared aims - recovering the captured soldiers and crushing Hizbullah.
More than 1,200 people were killed on both sides, most in Lebanon, according to U.N., "Israeli" and Lebanese officials. "Israel" claims it killed 600 guerrillas, but that number has not been substantiated, and Lebanon says most of its casualties were civilians.
A total of 159 "Israelis" were killed, including 39 civilians (settlers) who died in rocket attacks. Soldiers returning from battle complained of poor planning and shortages of ammunition, food and water.
Uri Guralcky, 30, a graduate student and electronics vendor in Jerusalem, said Peretz and Olmert must accept responsibility for the war`s failures. "They must go together with Halutz," he said.
Hizbullah legislator Hussein Haj Hassan told The Associated Press that Halutz`s resignation "is the result of the defeat of the `Israeli` enemy in Lebanon."