New Jeruslem vehicle "attack" as Livni seeks govt

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A Palestinian rammed his car into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem on Monday, hours after Foreign Minster Tzipi Livni agreed to try to form a new government that can avert an election and forge a peace deal.

The man, who neighbours said lived in Jerusalem, was shot dead after injuring 15 of the soldiers and four others, under the walls of the Old City on a road that marks the dividing "Green Line" between Arab East Jerusalem and the Jewish west.

Police described it as a "terrorist" attack, the third of its kind using vehicles against Israelis in the city since July. There was no immediately credible claim of responsibility.

It highlighted the security problems Livni faces as she seeks to build a workable government following the resignation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over a corruption scandal.

It is far from certain she will succeed in building a new coalition and failure may well mean a parliamentary election, which polls indicate would favour the right-wing opposition.

Two of those hurt were in a serious condition, medics said.

A police spokesman said a soldier and then a policeman fired at the driver. He lay dead in the road by his black BMW car.

"It was a terror attack," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, adding that a soldier and a policeman shot the driver.