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/ 7 September 2008
Israel’s police recommended on Sunday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be indicted in a string of corruption cases, according to an official document.
Israeli police plan to question Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week as part of an investigation that could force the Israeli leader out of office.
Ehud Olmert’s lawyers began on Thursday the cross-examination of a US businessman who says he supplied the then mayor with cash-stuffed envelopes.
Israeli police said on Tuesday they will question Prime Minister Ehud Olmert again this week over a corruption scandal that has rocked his government.
Barely a year passes without a senior minister begging Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, to go. Last year the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, called on Olmert to step down after the interim report of the Winograd commission on the Lebanese War. On Wednesday it was the turn of Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak called on Wednesday for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step aside over corruption allegations or face a collapse of his coalition that would disrupt peace talks with the Palestinians. This came a day after an American businessman told a court how he handed Olmert envelopes stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash.
A United States businessman at the centre of a bribery case against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert testified on Tuesday he gave the Israeli leader cash-stuffed envelopes but without expecting any favours in return. ”I never expected anything personally. I never had any personal benefits from this relationship whatsoever,” Morris Talansky told court.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned by police for an hour on Friday, the second time this month that investigators have quizzed him over allegations he took bribes from an American businessman. Investigators from the National Fraud Unit turned up early for a previously arranged appointment at Olmert’s official residence in Jerusalem.
Public mistrust is mounting against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, with an opinion poll on Monday showing a majority of Israelis think he should resign over a new probe into corruption allegations. Fifty-nine percent of Israelis want Olmert to step down, according to the survey published by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced a barrage of calls to resign on Friday after he admitted taking cash from an American businessman at the centre of a police investigation into suspected bribery. But Olmert, whose departure could disrupt peace negotiations with the Palestinians, continued with his duties.