Olmert braces for battle of his life

Occupied Jerusalem: As Israel celebrates what it considers its independence, its premier Ehud Olmert faces the hardest days of his life, according to a source close to the Israeli Prime Minister.

"Olmert is preparing for the battle of his life to protect his political career" after the conclusion of the Israeli independence celebrations, the source told the Israeli Army's radio on Wednesday.

The Israeli Police intends to release the details of the interrogation about the suspected involvement of the premier in a new corruption and bribery case.

The case differs from other corruption and abuse of power cases because it is more coherent and has more substantial evidence, sources in the Israeli Police told Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

There is also a witness, an American businessman, who volunteered to testify against Olmert, a source said.

Apparently, the Israeli premier's future is now strongly linked to the outcome of this case, which prompted Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Olmert's main competitor over the leadership of the Kadima Party, to prepare herself for any surprises the coming days may bring, political analyst Hanan Kristal told Gulf News.

"Efforts are being exerted to avoid early elections, and work in coordination with the two major parties to keep the current cabinet and replace Olmert by Livni, which is the solution supported by Ehud Barak, Defence Minister and leader of the Labor Party," he said.

"We at the Labor Party are ready for any political change that could happen and we will work towards protecting the political stability," Barak said.

Israel started the celebration of the 60th anniversary of its Independence Day, or what the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (catastrophe), Knesset member Talab Al Sane' told Gulf News.

Palestinian dreams

"On the day of the Nakba anniversary, we visit the ruins of the hundreds of our villages, which were destroyed by the Israeli Army, to reiterate that we will never forget, and we will pass the message on to the next generations," Al Sane' said.

"We want to keep the memory alive to the last Palestinian [on the Palestinian land]."

Apart from Palestinians from the 1948 areas, the orthodox Jews, too, will boycott the celebrations.

The orthodox Jews live in one of the neighbourhoods of occupied Jerusalem.

There tens of them attacked an Israeli man and beat him up because he was waiving an Israeli flag in one of the neighbourhoods, where the majority refuses to recognise the establishment of Israel and consider it a sin in violation of Judaism, which does not usher in salvation.