Israeli-Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak announced on Monday he was setting up a new political party with the aim of toppling Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's unpopular government. "There is an urgent need to change the current government that justifies the creation of a party," the Russian-born businessman, who has been implicated in police investigations in Israel and abroad, said in an interview with AFP.
The controversial tycoon who is hugely popular in Israel said he believes the party, which he will officially unveil this week under the name "Social Justice," could win as many as 30 to 40 seats in the 120-member parliament.