Leading Polls, Netanyahu Wants Elections

Hardline opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu called Thursday for general elections in the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision to step down in September under a cloud of corruption charges.

While Olmert's Kadima Party was hoping it could settle the leadership crisis internally in a matter of weeks, Netanyahu's demand raised the prospect of a months-long campaign.

Facing multiple corruption probes, Olmert announced Wednesday that he will resign once his party picks a new leader in September. But the primary election winner - probably Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni - would not automatically replace Olmert at the head of the government.

Netanyahu, an ex-premier known for his harsh statements against concessions to Arabs in peace negotiations, prefers an election he believes he would win. Netanyahu is leading in polls carried in Israeli media, including head-to-head matches with Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the Labor Party leader. Both favor compromise with Palestinians and Syria.

"This is a government that has come to the end of its road," Netanyahu told Israel Radio. "The right thing to do when the prime minister goes is ... to let the people choose who will lead them." Olmert's term was not set to expire until late 2010, but in recent years, no Israeli government has served its full term.

Olmert's vice premier, Haim Ramon, a bitter rival of Netanyahu, said the opposition leader would probably get his wish. Ramon told Channel 2 TV on Thursday, "I believe we will have elections in February or March, and until then, Olmert will be prime minister."

Speaking to reporters at the U.N. in New York, Livni appealed for parties to join a new Kadima-led coalition, but Israel's convoluted and fractious system of government, generating large numbers of parties and candidates, militates against a quick transition.

Kadima Party primaries are set for Sept. 17, with a second round a week later if no one wins outright.

Olmert said he would resign after Kadima chooses his replacement. Then the president, Shimon Peres, will consult the parties - a process that would take several days - and pick a member of parliament to form a new government. Presumably that would be the Kadima leader as head of the largest party.

But Kadima has only 29 seats in the fractured 120-member Israeli parliament, forcing it to build a coalition.

Olmert's coalition government will not automatically sign back on. Labor members are already making it clear that their participation is not automatic.

Labor Cabinet minister Isaac Herzog told Army Radio that Labor prefers a new coalition, "but to say it's realistic - I don't know. I see very large obstacles in the way."

Olmert's other partner, the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Shas, is ideologically more comfortable with hardliners like Netanyahu. If polls show Shas maintaining its strength or improving its position, it might also favor an election.

With few other options for a majority coalition, that would mean the new Kadima leader might fail to set up a government, bringing Netanyahu's wish to fulfillment - forcing an election.

With an additional three to six weeks for forming a government, that would mean Israel's political turmoil could last for six months or more, putting everything else in the deep freeze - including Mideast peace efforts.