News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The Likud party is trying to convince non-party members to register in the rival Kadima party and throw their support behind Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz as a replacement for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Party chairman Binyamin (Bibi) Netanyahu has accused Moshe Feiglin, head of the Jewish Leadership faction, of the same "fifth column" tactic.

The Prime Minister so far has survived predictions that he would be forced to resign over investigations on corruption and charges of mismanaging the Second Lebanon War, but he still faces a possible criminal indictment as well as the final report of the Winograd Committee, which investigated the government's conduct in the war.

Transportation Minister Mofaz bolted the Likud to join the Kadima party but never succeeded in reaching the inner circle of Prime Minister Olmert's aides. The Likud's ultimate aim is to lure Mofaz back into the Likud.