JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s rivals jostled for Israel’s leadership yesterday after his decision to resign, but aides said he could still stay in office long enough to forge a statehood deal with the Palestinians.

Dogged by corruption scandals, Olmert thrust Israeli politics and Middle East peace talks into turmoil on Wednesday by announcing that he would step down after a Sept. 17 vote within his centrist Kadima party to choose a new leader.

It could take months for his successor to cobble together a new coalition, leaving Olmert in the role of caretaker prime minister, possibly into next year.

Compounding the political uncertainty, right-wing opposition Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu called yesterday for parliamentary elections to be brought forward, which could lead to the formation of a government opposed to a peace deal.

An Israeli official close to Olmert, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Olmert would try to reach agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “during the time he has left,” either in his current role or as caretaker leader.

But Israeli lawmakers and analysts doubt Olmert will have the political strength to make commitments, either in the final-status talks with Abbas or in Israel’s Turkish-moderated negotiations with Syria.

“He has no legitimacy to reach any understanding with the Palestinians or with Syria that would bind the government,” said Communications Minister Ariel Attias of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a member of Olmert’s governing coalition.

Professor Gadi Wolfsfeld of Hebrew University agreed: “Who is going to make a deal with him when they know he can’t deliver? He is a lame duck.”

Michael Oren, a historian at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, said Olmert’s political weakness could be an opportunity for the Palestinians and Syrians to “achieve their maximum demands” in the negotiations.

Speaking in Tunisia, Abbas pledged to work with Olmert and his successor despite the “turmoil” in Israel.

Four Kadima ministers, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, have launched campaigns to replace Olmert in the Sept. 17 vote.

An Olmert confidant, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, said new elections were a “high” probability because he believed the next Kadima leader would find it difficult to form a new government.