Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared victory
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared victory for the Kadima party in the Israeli elections held yesterday. Olmert has been acting PM since Sharon suffered a major stroke.
“Today, Israeli democracy has spoken its piece, in a loud and clear voice,” Olmert declared. “Israel wants Kadima,” which means forward in Hebrew.
Olmert said he was ready for new peace talks and was prepared to make painful compromises such as uprooting some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and allowing Palestinians to have a state. But he demanded that the Palestinians be willing to compromise in return.
“In the coming period, we will move to set the final borders of the state of Israel, a Jewish state with a Jewish majority,” Olmert said. “We will try to achieve this in an agreement with the Palestinians.”
