Peretz to quit 'within weeks'

[oberliner]

Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, has said he will resign after an inquiry into last year's conflict with Lebanon was critical of his conduct, but not now.

Peretz, who is also leader of the Labour party, said he would step down after the party's leadership election on May 28, a poll he is expected to lose.

He said: "I announced more than a month ago that I intend, immediately after the Labour party primaries, to carry out far-reaching changes."

The Israeli media have said Peretz might quit this week, a move that could increase the pressure on Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, to step down.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/19C1A104-FD51-4DF8-8E57-7AF07D199FA9.htm

[Englander]

1. Barak at focus of Labor debate on bolting gov't

By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent

Former prime minister Ehud Barak, a leading contender for the Labor Party leadership, told his associates Sunday that in light of the Winograd report on the Second Lebanon War, he does not believe he could sit in a government headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

If Barak announces this officially in the coming days, it could seriously impair Olmert's chances of survival. Hitherto, Olmert has been assuming that if Barak were to win the Labor leadership primary later this month, he would join Olmert's government as defense minister, which would both improve the government's public image and ensure that its coalition majority remains intact.

The discussion took on particular urgency on Monday, with a Knesset no-confidence vote slated for later in the day. Some MKs from the coalition indicated Sunday that they would vote against the government in the first no-confidence vote after the release of the harsh Winograd interim report on the government's performance during the Second Lebanon War.