TEL AVIV: One day after securing the leadership of Israel’s ruling party, Tzipi Livni called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to implement his promise to resign as soon as possible, allowing her to form a new government urgently.
The Israeli foreign minister, chairing the first meeting of the centrist Kadima party since she won primaries held Wednesday, also called for unity within the faction, and expressed “regret” at the surprise decision of her main party rival, Shaul Mofaz, to take a timeout from politics.
“The prime minister has announced a long time ago that he will resign immediately after the results of the primaries are known, “ Livni told Kadima legislators and ministers at the party’s headquarters in Petah Tiqwa, near Tel Aviv.
“From this moment on, because we have a state to run, we must act quickly,” she said. “We don’t have much time to fool around.”
Neither Olmert nor Mofaz attended the meeting.
Olmert’s spokesman said the Israeli premier may resign as early as next week. “He will notify the Cabinet on Sunday and then he will go to the president to give his formal letter of resignation,” Mark Regev told Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
Livni has already begun informal coalition talks, meeting Eli Yishai of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party at her Tel Aviv home Thursday night. Shas is a key partner in the current coalition, but has raised tough demands.
Livni will meet the leader of the Pensioners Party today, and said she planned to see the chairman of the left-liberal Meretz party and others next week.
Mofaz dramatically announced Thursday that he would be quitting the Knesset and also forgo a post in any new government.
“The time has come for me to take a break,” Mofaz told his campaign headquarters near Tel Aviv Thursday night.
“I want to consider my future and different ways that I can contribute to Israeli society, to the state and to my family,” he said, adding he would stay a member of Kadima.
