BREAKING: IT LOOKS LIKE LIEBERMAN IS OUT OF THE COALITION

From Israel Insider:

MK Avigdor Lieberman, Chairman of Israel Beitenu, a center-right party with 11 mandates, announced his resignation as Minister of Strategic Affairs and the departure of his party from the government of Ehud Olmert, leaving behind a coalition of 67. The religious Shas party may follow him out, creating a potential condition of a minority government without minimal stability.

Lieberman explained that the reason for his departure was the government's violation of his "red lines" including negotiations on "core issues" with the Palestinians. In his press conference, he rejected the concept of "land for peace" and asserted that the morning after any withdrawal there would be an uprising of Israeli Arabs demanding autonomy and demands for further concessions.

Now the question remains: will Shas follow suit? They may have to, as Olmert's red-line crossings could put them in a very awkward position.

UPDATE (Reliapundit):

NYTIMES/AP:

A hawkish faction in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's coalition pulled out of the government on Wednesday, weakening him at a time when he needs broad support to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year.

... The withdrawal of Yisrael Beiteinu's 11 lawmakers from the government leaves Olmert with a majority of 67 in the 120-seat parliament.

''Negotiations on the basis of land for peace is a fatal mistake,'' Avigdor Lieberman, head of the faction, told a news conference.

Olmert spokesman Mark Regev said he had no immediate comment. Ruhama Avraham, a member of Olmert's Kadima Party, said the government would ''overcome this.''

Lieberman's decision came just days after Palestinian and Israeli negotiators began tackling the core issues of their conflict -- final borders, sovereignty over disputed Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian refugees who lost homes in Israel during the war that broke out following the Jewish state's creation in 1948.

... The ultra-Orthodox Shas Party with 12 lawmakers has also threatened to leave if Israel agrees to any compromise over Jerusalem, whose eastern sector Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians claim east Jerusalem as the capital of a future state.

• SHAS SHOULD LEAVE BEFORE ANY DEAL BETWEEN OLMERT AND ABBAS IS REACHED.
• THIS WILL BRING THE OLMERT REGIME DOWN.
• AND LEAD TO BIBI'S RE-ELECTION.

THE SOONER - THE BETTER: Olmert is a corrupt incompetent and must go.

(EARLIER POSTS HERE AND HERE.)