Ehud Olmert - Acting Prime Minister

Acting Prime Minister

On 4 January 2006, as the designated Acting Prime Minister, Olmert became Acting Prime Minister as a result of the serious stroke suffered by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. This occurred after consultations took place between Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who declared Sharon "temporarily incapable to carry out the duties of his office", while only officially in office. Then, Olmert and the cabinet reaffirmed in an announcement that the 28 March elections would be held as scheduled.

During the days following the stroke, Olmert met with Shimon Peres and other Sharon supporters to try to convince them to stay with Kadima, rather than return to Likud or, in Peres' case, Labor. On 16 January 2006 Olmert was elected chairman of Kadima, and Kadima's candidate for prime minister in the upcoming election. In his first major policy address after becoming caretaker Prime Minister, on 24 January 2006 Olmert stated that he backed the creation of a Palestinian state, and that Israel would have to relinquish parts of the West Bank to maintain its Jewish majority. At the same time, he said, "We firmly stand by the historic right of the people of Israel to the entire Land of Israel." In a number of interviews he also introduced his Realignment plan, which would see Israel unilaterally withdraw from most of the West Bank and redraw its borders to incorporate major settlement blocs into Israel. The plan was shelved following the 2006 Lebanon War.