Olmert

In an interview for BBC World Service's Newshour programme, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the current Israeli administration as a "gang of thugs".

He was asked about remarks by the Israeli education minister, who had said Olmert should be ashamed of a previous interview with the BBC, where he argued that what Israel was doing in Gaza was "close to a war crime".

"This is nonsense, they are a group of thugs that are running the state of Israel these days and the head of the gang is Netanyahu - this is a gang of thugs," Olmert said.

The former Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, has been one of very few senior Israelis so far to speak out against expanding the military campaign in Gaza.

Olmert is a frequent and increasingly vocal critic of Israel's current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and his views reflect growing concern about the impact of the 20-month-long war on the country's morale, economy and international standing.