Israeli foreign minister adds to Olmert’s woes

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More than a year ago, FP predicted Ehud Olmert’s ouster and drew up a list of possible successors. It turns out the Israeli prime minister was able to hang on by the skin of his teeth, but the list still holds up pretty well. Among the top contenders? Tzipi Livni, the current foreign minister and the No.2 official in Olmert’s Kadima Party.

Last year, Livni made a premature bid for Olmert’s job when she excoriated his conduct of the Lebanon war. But today, Livni gave the embattled prime minister a shove that could finally break him by calling for internal elections for a new party leader. It so happens she’s the odds-on favorite to win the job, which would make her the new prime minister as long as there are no new national elections.

That would suit Defense Minister and Labor Party Chairman Ehud Barak just fine, since he and many other center-left Israelis fear that Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing Likud Party would win. That’s why Barak is unlikely to simply withdraw from Olmert’s governing coalition and collapse the government.

For now, though, Olmert seems determined to fight on. And judging by how he’s been able to persevere thus far despite truly dismal public approval ratings, it would be foolish to count him out altogether.