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/ 29 May 2008

Olmert: From high life to low ebb

Barely a year passes without a senior minister begging Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, to go. Last year the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, called on Olmert to step down after the interim report of the Winograd commission on the Lebanese War. On Wednesday it was the turn of Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

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/ 28 May 2008

Olmert coalition ally demands he step aside

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on Wednesday for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step aside over corruption allegations or face a collapse of his coalition that would disrupt peace talks with the Palestinians. This came a day after an American businessman told a court how he handed Olmert envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash.

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/ 5 March 2008

Rice says Palestinian-Israeli peace talks to resume

United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks suspended over an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. Signalling a willingness by Israel to hold fire, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said there would not be further attacks on Gaza if Palestinian militants stop rocket salvoes.

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/ 2 March 2008

UN slams Israel after bloody day in Gaza

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel for using ”excessive” force in the Gaza Strip and demanded a halt to its offensive after troops killed 61 people on the bloodiest day for Palestinians since the 1980s. The 1,5-million Palestinians crammed into the blockaded, 45km sliver of coast, enjoyed a relative respite early on Sunday from Israeli air strikes and raids.

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/ 7 February 2008

Hamas rejects Abbas truce offer

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas offered to help negotiate a ceasefire as Israel pounded Gaza on Thursday, killing seven people days after a suicide bombing claimed by Hamas rulers. Hamas promptly rejected the offer, with spokesperson Fawzi Barhum branding it a ”blackmail attempt against the Palestinian people”.

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/ 29 October 2007

Israel PM diagnosed with prostate cancer

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced on Monday he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer requiring surgery but vowed to stay in office, confident of a full recovery. ”Following the results of a regular check-up, I was diagnosed with initial signs of prostate cancer,” the 62-year-old prime minister told a packed news conference in Jerusalem.