January 19, 2007	Friday	Zilhaj 28, 1427

JERUSALEM, Jan 18: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defence minister refused growing pressure on Thursday to follow Israel's military chief of staff and resign over failures of last year's war on Hezbollah.

When asked whether Olmert, his ratings approaching single digits and facing a criminal corruption probe, would follow Lieutenant General Dan Halutz's example and quit, a senior aide said: “No, he has no such intention.” Defence Minister Amir Peretz, who most observers in Israel predict will be the next head to roll over the inconclusive 34-day war on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, was just as adamant.

“As defence minister, my intention is to continue the mission,” he was quoted as saying during a speech at a naval graduation ceremony on Wednesday.

But a day after Halutz became the most senior official to step down over the inconclusive 34-day war, pressure grew on Olmert and Peretz to follow suit.

An opinion poll released on Thursday showed 50 per cent of Israelis in favour of Olmert stepping down and a staggering 71 per cent who thought the defence minister should quit.

Some 58 per cent favoured holding early elections, just eight months after Olmert's coalition officially assumed power following March 2006 elections.

Joining a chorus of opposition lawmakers, Israel's three leading dailies said on Thursday it was only a matter of time before the deeply unpopular Olmert and Peretz go. “Both know that they are lame ducks on the way to the slaughterhouse,”wrote Maariv, the second-largest daily newspaper in the country.

Mr Olmert, 61, who was listed by Time magazine less than a year ago as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, today faces approval ratings of just 14 per cent.—AFP