Israel Matzav

Olmert and Livni to meet amidst accusations

Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Feigele Livni are to meet today amidst accusations from the 'Prime Minister's Office' that Livni lied to the Winograd Commission. Maybe they should invite their friend the Holocaust denier in to mediate.

The Prime Minister's Office said that Olmert wished to continue to work with the foreign minister, despite the fact that she had called on him to resign following the scathing criticism he received in the Winograd report.

On Saturday, tensions continued to rise between the two when sources in the Prime Minister's Office accused Livni of lying during her testimony to the Winograd Committee.

The sources said she claimed to have suggested certain diplomatic initiatives that the Prime Minister's Office had "no record of."

The Foreign Ministry responded to the accusation with a statement saying that the Winograd Committee was set up to discover the truth and that it was in this spirit that Livni had testified. "The foreign minister is not interested in confrontation," continued the statement.

As Arutz Sheva points out, there was actually more to Livni's testimony than supposed diplomatic initiatives:

Differences between her and the Prime Minister during the war surfaced last week. "Cooperation between the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister is not a personal issue; it is a critical issue," she declared. "It is no secret that during the war there was no such cooperation, and the [Winograd] Committee determined that the responsibility for the absence of cooperation was with the Prime Minister."

Analysts consider Olmert's government too shaky for him to fire her, but aides to Foreign Minister Livni have indicated she will not rescind her advice that Prime Minister Olmert should quit. Prior to the Winograd report, he accused her of trying to undermine his authority, and he will try to find common ground to continue working with her when they meet Sunday.

In light of all this, the continued support for Olmert within Kadima Achora is surprising. But Olmert seems determined to drag the party down with him and the party seems more than willing to go. Let's hope that Olmert's demise as Prime Minister leads to new elections and not just to Livni taking over.

Update 11:22 AM

Army Radio this morning aired a recording of Livni calling for a 'diplomatic solution' on the sixth day of the war - the first day not covered by the Winograd Commission's interim report. As far as I am concerned, the issue is not whether Livni called for a diplomatic solution, but what 'diplomatic solution' she actually implemented. It was not a good one for Israel.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:14 AM