Gil Hoffman
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is seriously considering quitting the premiership following the mid-September Kadima leadership race if the winner can form a new government, Channel 1 diplomatic correspondent Ayala Hasson reported Friday.
Olmert told Hebrew newspapers in stories published Friday that he had not even started thinking about whether he should run in the primary, let alone about what to do if someone else won. But in the interviews, in which he lashed out at law enforcement authorities, he made clear that he understood that his political fate had already been decided in the court of public opinion.
Kadima's election committee, headed by retired judge Dan Arbel, will meet this week to choose a date for the primary between September 14 and 18. The committee will also set a deadline a month before that for candidates to join the race.
Should Olmert decide not to run, he would already be considered a lame duck, even though he could remain prime minister until after a spring 2009 general election if the winner of the Kadima race in September is unable to form a new government.
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