Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts [Gallery] [Videos]

Israel, Lebanon agree on ceasefire

    JERUSALEM, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Despite the fierce criticism of his handling in the Lebanese war throughout Israel, the Prime Minister Ehud Olmert still regards himself as "the most suitable for leadership," Israel's popular Yedioth Ahronoth revealed on Thursday.

    In a special Yedioth Ahronoth interview ahead of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, Olmert said that, looking at the political and military establishment, he could not see one person more experienced than he had done in managing an operation as big as the second Lebanon war.

    "I did not feel I had to deal with the type of decisions for which I lacked something in order to deal with them," he said. According to the latest poll conducted by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Dahaf Institute, 27 percent of the public believes that Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is the most suitable person to head the government.

    Then, followed by Israel Our Home Chairman Avigdor Lieberman with 15 percent, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni with 14 percent, and Vice Premier Shimon Peres with 12 percent of support.

    However, Olmert is only at the fifth place, with only 7 percent of the public supporting him as the right person to lead them. Referring to the prisoner swap deal to release kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, Olmert did not rule out the possibility that Israel would also release prisoners "with blood on their hands," as long as this is done opposite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Enditem