Following Labor Party leader Ehud Barak’s statements giving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert an ultimatum, lawmakers are all jockeying for position. Some believe Olmert will comply and leave office, while others are confident he will call Barak’s bluff and remain in office.

Barak’s statements were carefully weighed, containing enough information to send a message, but he left them vague enough, lacking deadlines and dates, to leave an exit plan in case Olmert acts unpredictably. Barak does not want elections just yet, but he is compelled to challenge Olmert’s continued leadership if Labor is to maintain a modicum of integrity with its voter base.

Olmert may resign, step down, or suspend himself, and Kadima may select an interim leader as the nation prepares for elections. There are other options as well, including the formation of an emergency transition government that would bring Likud from the opposition to the coalition. This however is most unlikely since Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu still holds a comfortable lead in the polls if elections were held today.

It appears Barak opted to make his statements today because he feels that a call for early elections would result in Labor sitting in opposition since it is unlikely that his party join a Likud-led coalition. In addition, with this week’s resignation from the party by veteran lawmaker Dr. Ephraim Sneh, in addition to a number of others signaling their disapproval with Barak’s leadership, the defense minister is not exactly leading the call for elections, not national or party primaries.

Olmert may remain firm and refuse to step down, which will result in much internal strife in Kadima and probably serve as a catalyst for lawmakers to raise their hand in support of dissolving the current Knesset and moving to elections. This would possibly be the most harmful scenario for Kadima as a party.

Whatever route Olmert will take, it is clear that his days as the nation’s leader are rapidly coming to an end – and even the master will find it difficult to extricate himself from the current predicament.

SOME REACTIONS FROM MINISTERS:

*Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor): Olmert and Kadima must make some difficult decisions.

*Ami Ayalon (Labor): Olmert cannot remain in office. We deserve someone capable of governing.

SOME REACTIONS FROM MKs & OTHERS:

*Labor MKs Yacimovitz, Pines and Cabel: Submitted a bill to dissolve the current Knesset.

*Tal Zilberstein, the prime minister’s political advisor: Olmert plans to continue serving as prime minister. This is based on a conversation that we had a short time ago.

*Mark Regev, the prime minister’s spokesman: Mr. Olmert is continuing with he regular daily schedule.

*Kadima MKs Ze’ev Elkin and Amir Dotan: Olmert must quit. He should show personal leadership.

*Kadima MK Ronit Tirosh: Barak cannot even run his own party so how can he instruct us on how to run Kadima.

*Likud MK Yisrael Katz: Pointed out that Barak too is failing, unable to run defense matters. He called on the prime minister to resign immediately.

*NRP MK Zevulun Orlev: Barak’s statements were vague and ambiguous, and lacked the necessary ingredients to compel the prime minister to obligate himself.

*Labor MK Colette Avital: Olmert is compelled to step down, adding there is no ethical or moral way for him to continue in office.

*Labor MK Yoram Marciano: Was angered at Barak for not calling for immediate elections, a move he interprets as Barak’s lack of confidence that Labor can emerge a victor.

For now: the White House, European Union, The Quartet and international community are watching and waiting for a signal from Jerusalem. The talks on all fronts will come to a halt since Olmert is now a lame duck leader, a man who has been stripped of his mandate to rule, yet alone to make major decisions pertaining to Eretz Yisroel’s future boundaries.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)