Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said this week that "even the things Prime Minister Ehud Olmert admits to doing are improper," according to Maariv daily newspaper. Livni was reportedly "unimpressed" by demands that she behave in a collegial manner towards Olmert in view of the investigations against him. "A government is not a place of work, [there are] no friends and no buddies. I'm sorry," she reportedly told unnamed sources.
After the news of the suspicions against Olmert were published, Livni made a short statement in which she said she believed in the law enforcement agencies and hoped they would act quickly. "Then the Prime Minister's Bureau began briefing [reporters] against me," Livni reportedly said. "They wanted me to say something else, and they wanted me to say it publicly. Maybe as a message to the police and prosecution. But I have no intention of playing that game. Absolutely not," she added.