Israel's Labour to back bill to dissolve parliament

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Israel's Labour party on Monday decided to support a motion to dissolve parliament this week, in a move that could bring down embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government, officials said.

Fifteen of the dovish party's 19 MPs voted in favour of Labour chairman Defence Minister Ehud Barak's decision to support the opposition's dissolution bill on Wednesday, a senior party official told AFP.

Barak earlier this month threatened to quit Olmert's coalition government if the prime minister did not resign over suspicions he had illegally accepted cash from a US businessman.

Labour is Olmert's key partner in government and without its support the prime minister's fragile coalition would not have the required 61 seats for a majority in the 120-member parliament.

Olmert on Sunday warned that any Labour minister who voted in favour of dissolution "would be out of office within 48 hours," a Labour official said."

more

[Scurrilous]

1. Olmert survives after Labour U-turn

<snip>

"Israel's Labour party has dropped its support for a motion to dissolve parliament amid an ongoing bribery investigation against Ehud Olmert, the country's prime minister, according to parliamentary sources.

Labour's Ehud Barak, the defence minister, reached an agreement with Olmert on Wednesday, two days after Labour said it would support the opposition move.

Dissolving parliament could have been one of the first steps towards bringing down Olmert's fragile government.

Fifteen of Labour's 19 members voted to support Barak's move."

<snip>

"Under Wednesday's accord, Olmert agreed to Barak's demand that primary elections be held in Kadima by September 25.

In turn, Labour will not back the efforts of the Likud opposition to bring down the government, the parliamentary sources said."

more

[LeftishBrit]

2. Probably a good thing.

As Hilaire Belloc wrote in his poem,

!Always keep a hold of Nurse,
For fear of finding something worse!'

Bad as Olmert is, Netanyahu would definitely be worse!

Though I hope someone else will ulimately get in.