Prime Minister Ehud Olmert delivered an emotional speech Thursday night in which he acknowledged his increasing unpopularity, but urged the public to give him its backing.

The speech, delivered at a meeting of his Kadima Party's governing council, was an effort to counter growing calls for his resignation, even from within his own party.

In it, he made it clear that he has no intention of acceding to demands that he resign. "Even though some think this is hunting season, I am sorry to disappoint my detractors, but I am here to work," he said. "I have no intention of betraying the trust that was given to me, and let there be no mistake: I intend to be working for you for a long time yet."

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Olmert began the speech with a forthright admission of his unpopularity. "I'm an unpopular prime minister, the polls say so," he said. "I think they are right, I am indeed an unpopular prime minister."

Nevertheless, he insisted, he has numerous achievements to show for his term as premier: a flourishing economy, lower poverty levels and stronger international support for Israel. He also reiterated his claim that last summer's Lebanon war, which the public largely perceives as a failure, was in fact a success.

Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and the top military brass all saw their popularity plummet after Israel failed to crush Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group in a 34-day campaign that ended in a cease-fire brokered by the United Nations. Israel at first relied on air and artillery shelling, which caused a large number of Lebanese casualties but hardly dented Hezbollah's ability to fire short-range rockets into the Jewish state.

Nevertheless, Olmert and Peretz claim that the war drove the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah away from the Israeli border and made way for a bolstered UN peacekeeping force.

Olmert acknowledged Thursday night that he might be "much more popular" today if he had heeded calls by analysts and former generals to launch a swift ground offensive after Hezbollah abducted two soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid. However, he argued, doing so would have endangered Israeli soldiers. He also acknowledged that he might be more popular had he refrained from ordering a large-scale ground offensive during the final days of the war, in which 33 soldiers were killed. But that, he claimed, would have endangered the war's diplomatic achievements.

"I know how an incumbent prime minister can become popular, there are dozens of ways," Olmert added, describing himself as a "veteran political warrior" who knows how to judge his standing.

Olmert said that his decreasing popularity might have been halted if he had "caved in to pressure" to increase public spending or launched a public relations campaign in response to a series of political corruption allegations.

With one exception, all of the other Kadima ministers who spoke at Thursday night's session - Meir Sheetrit, Shaul Mofaz and Avi Dichter - publicly declared their support for Olmert. The one exception was Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who made do with calling for internal party unity and attacking opposition leader and Likud Party Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu.

But behind the scenes, many senior Kadima officials have recently begun talking about the need to replace Olmert in order to stop the party's collapse in the polls.

The Winograd Committee, which is investigating the war, said earlier this week that it would issue interim findings in April that will draw conclusions about Olmert's performance. A highly critical report could spur public demands for his resignation or for early elections.


Poll: FM Livni favored for PM if Olmert forced to step down
According to an Israel Radio poll broadcast Thursday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is the leading candidate to replace Olmert if is he is forced to quit over last summer's war in Lebanon.

The survey put Livni slightly ahead of rightist leader Benjamin Netanyahu who has been a frontrunner in recent polls which predicted he would easily defeat Olmert if an early election were held.

Olmert may be forced to resign when a government-named war inquiry panel headed by Judge Eliyahu Winograd publishes its initial findings next month. The panel has said it would focus on "individual conclusions" regarding the responsibility of Olmert and other top officials for the war on Hezbollah guerrillas.

Olmert has been criticized over the Israel Defense Forces' failure to crush the guerrillas and prevent rocket attacks in the 34 days of fighting that ended with a United Nations-brokered cease-fire in mid-August.

The poll showed that nearly 34 percent of Israelis said they supported Livni as the best candidate in the centrist Kadima to replace Olmert, should he step aside.

In a separate part of the survey, 26 percent of respondents said they would prefer Netanyahu, a former prime minister, at the helm again.

Another 34 percent said they would prefer Israel to hold a new election if Olmert were no longer in charge and 10 percent had no opinion on the matter.

A March 7 poll predicted Netanyahu, former prime minister Ehud Barak and Labor MK Ami Ayalon, could each defeat Olmert in an early election.


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