Israeli Battles Continue With or Without War

'Israel:
Olmert to Resign Following Kadima Primary'
by Jillian York

Ehud Olmert said yesterday that he will not stand for the Kadima primary in
September.  According to Al Jazeera English, Olmert said: "I have decided
I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in
the elections."  This means that Olmert could be out of office as
soon as September 17 or as late as March, depending on how long it takes to set
up the new government.

Bloggers had a strong reaction to Olmert's resignation.  Israel Matzav
liveblogged the story as it broke. An excerpt from a post during Olmert's
speech reads:

He made mistakes during his career and he is sorry for them. But the picture in
front of the public is not real. He has elementary right to presumption of
innocence and he should not have to seek it by force. He understands that
police and prosecution have to do their job and he's not above the law but not
below it either.

Commenting on the post, Orde says:

The impression I get (which is worth a grain of salt, because I'm over here and
out of the loop), is that Livni's not that much better when it comes to
"the peace process" or the whole extremists vs. the moderates
approach. Wrong? right? Why would Olmert leaving change anything at all when it
came to the peace process if Livni's approach is the same? What's the up side
of this?

To that, NormanF responds:

Orde... I doubt it. Ehud Olmert has done a great deal of damage in his two
years in office and will no doubt try to inflict more upon the country in order
to get "a legacy." That being said no one in Israel is sorry
to see him go. He's been the most corrupt and incompetent Prime Minister Israel has ever
had. What a singular distinction! By the way, the press conference was all
about HIM.

Israeli blogger The Muqata is ambivalent:

8:10 PM, July 30, 2008: Olmert announces that he will leave office in 2 months!
What a disappointment....well, maybe not.
After a 14 minute surprise press conference, first Olmert drags it on saying
how wonderful the government is, how everything in Israel is grand, how the
police have been hounding him over investigations in which de did nothing
wrong, and he has answers for everything.
Instead of outright resigning, he is only stepping down after the Kadima
primaries.

Olah Chadasha responds in a comment, saying:

He believes he has improved the situation in Israel??? What world does this
maniac live in??? He created a stagnant government that hasn't done a damn
thing in 2.5 years, brought Israel's its toughest military defeat in recent
history and then pissed on it with a disgusting prisoner exchange, allowed
Sderot and its surrounding areas to be held hostage as Olmert fishes for
"peace" and his place in history, etc., etc., ad nauseam. This man is
truly delusional. The disgusting part is he probably believes every drop of
dung he throws at us.
-OC

Israeli blogger Forecast Highs is looking toward the future, and reflects that
in a blog post entitled "Mrs. Clean is from Mars, Mr. Security is from
Venus", explaining that the real issue is who will replace Olmert:

While the real battle between Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz to replace Ehud
Olmert as Kadima chairperson and prime minister is taking place amongst the
30,000 Kadima members and not the wider public, the two frontrunners have
retained the services of skilled campaign consultants to convince both the
party membership and the general public that their candidate is worthy of
Israel’s top job.

Syrian blogger Maysaloon shares his opinion:

I don't expect Kadima to survive once Olmert is ousted from power. The ill omen
of Ariel Sharon's stroke almost at the very start crippled Kadima whilst
Olmert, a manager more than a leader, has been disastrous for Israel. If Sharon awoke now from his coma he would probably ask to be
put back into it if he sees the state that Israel is now in.