Olmert Suffers Political Setback
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Olmert suffered a major setback yesterday when a party withdrew from his coalition in protest at his support for peace talks with the Palestinian Arabs. The decision by Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of the Yisrael Beitenu Party — which has 11 members of Parliaments — to leave the government reduced Mr. Olmert’s bloc to 67. Mr. Lieberman, who supports the idea of removing all Israeli Arabs from Israel, said his party was leaving the government because of Mr. Olmert’s willingness to give Palestinian Arabs land occupied by Israel in 1967. Some observers believe that Mr. Lieberman is trying to position himself as a potential partner for any future government led by Likud Party,.
