Political turmoil prompts Peres to step in for Olmert in UN assembly

President Shimon Peres will represent Israel during the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, officials in the President's Residence confirmed on Tuesday.

The event is normally attended by heads of state, yet due to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's tenuous political standing and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's candidacy in the Kadima primaries, officials in Jerusalem decided to dispatch Peres for the assembly's opening session.

During his stay in New York, the president is expected to hold a series of meetings with world leaders as well as senior figures in the American Jewish community. Peres will also address the UN next Wednesday.

It is worth noting that the president may need to remain in the country if one of the candidates for the Kadima chairmanship wins a first-round victory.

By law, it is the president who officially sanctions the head of the Knesset's largest faction to cobble together a majority coalition.

Due to the unclear timetable, officials decided that Peres will travel to New York in any event.