03 May 2007
Israel’s prime minister Ehud Olmert has come increased under political pressure after calls by senior members of his government and Kadima party for him to resign over the handling of the Lebanon war last year. Olmert’s deputy, foreign minister Tzipi Livni, called on the PM to quit. After a commission of inquiry strongly criticized his performance during last summer's attack against Hezbollah, Livni told reporters in Jerusalem "I told the prime minister that I thought to resign was the right thing to do. 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."
Olmert rejected the calls for him to step down. Tens of thousands of protestors are expected to converge on Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Thursday evening to call for the PM’s resignation. Tal Zilberstein, an Olmert adviser, said the prime minister was firm in his decision to stay on. "It is a legitimate, democratic demonstration," Zilberstein told Israeli radio. "The prime minister takes the criticism seriously." But he added that the rally would not prompt Olmert to "think he has to vacate his post and stop implementing the lessons of the [Lebanon War] commission".
