Tel Aviv/Ramallah - Israelis and Palestinians will continue
their peace negotiations, despite the announced resignation of
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, officials from both sides said
Thursday.
Olmert's intention to quit will not affect Palestinian efforts 'to
reach a peace deal with Israel,' Saeb Erekat, a senior negotiator and
official in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said.
The Israeli premier decision, which comes amid corruption
allegations, is 'an internal affair,' Erekat told Voice of Palestine
Radio.
Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa
'We are committed to continuing the peace process.'
But the Israeli premier's announcement of Wednesday night has
nonetheless created new uncertainty for the peace process, even if he
could in theory continue to govern at the head of a caretaker
government until new elections, possibly in early 2009.
After widespread speculation on whether he would or would not,
Olmert, 62, said in a televised address from his official residence
in Jerusalem that he would not run in the September 17 contest to
choose a new leader for his ruling Kadima party.
He added he would step down as soon as a new party leader had been
chosen.
Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, also said the development
was an 'internal Israeli matter' in which 'we do not interfere.'
'We will work with any prime minister in Israel because what
matters to us is to keep the peace process going,' he told the
Palestinian daily al-Ayyam.
The rival Palestinian Hamas movement in de-facto control of the
Gaza Strip, on the other hand, welcomed Olmert's announcement, with
spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri calling it 'a victory for the Hamas movement
and an indication of the deterioration of political life in Israel.'
The smaller, also radical Islamic Jihad movement too called
Olmert's decision to quit an 'achievement,' claiming it was the
outcome of inconclusive war in the summer of 2006 between Israel and
Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas, and a 'triumph' for the Palestinian
rockets fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel.
Olmert had come under growing pressure to step down, after being
implicated in a slew of alleged corruption allegations stemming from
his time as mayor of Jerusalem and as minister of finance and
minister of trade and industry.
The suspicions against the unpopular premier include bribe-taking,
favours for friends and suspicious money and property transactions
from which he personally gained. Under the latest allegations, he
also he also submitted multiple bills for single trips to a variety
of public agencies and institutions.
Police have not completed their investigation and no indictment
has yet been filed. Israeli's anti-corruption unit has said Olmert's
decision would not affect the ongoing probe. Police are due to
question Olmert for a fourth time on Friday on some of the
allegations.
Olmert denies any wrongdoing. 'As prime minister, I have been
denied the basic right to the presumption of innocence,' he said in
his late Wednesday announcement.
Details in the investigation and documents submitted as evidence
have been regularly leaked to the media.
A former Israeli fraud unit head, Boaz Guttman, told the Jerusalem
Post Thursday that police have 'enough material for a sure conviction
of fraud and violation of public trust.' Of the allegations against
him, the most serious one - bribe-taking - is hardest to prove.
Elected to the premiership in March 2006, Olmert's popularity
plummeted after the war with Hezbollah, which erupted less than two
months later. Many blaming him and his government for failing to
conduct the war in a decisive, conclusive manner.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the Israeli team
negotiating peace with the Palestinians, is the frontrunner to
succeed him.
But Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, a former defence minister and
army chief of staff considered to be considerably more hawkish and
more sceptical about the possibility of reaching a peace agreement,
is also a candidate for the Kadima leadership.
Sean, Santa BarbaraJul 31st, 2008 - 11:15:06
The right wingers are watering at the mouth to attack some more Palestinians. I hope Olmert can atleast set up a treaty before he leaves and the crazies take over. This story after all of the vidoes that Bet' Salem has gotten of Israelis proudly attacking ederly palestinians and shooting civilians is really scary for the Palestinians.
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