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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaking at the Knesset. (Archives)
Last update - 16:59 04/05/2008
Olmert: I'll keep doing my job despite malicious rumors
By Tomer Zarchin, Jonathan Lis and Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
Tags: Israel, corruption 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said he would not let a new police investigation into his conduct prevent him from doing his job - his first public comments on an affair that has threatened to further weaken him politically as he tries to make peace with the Palestinians.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's arrival in the region this weekend only highlighted concerns that Olmert might be too weak to shepherd through a peace deal that would require Israel to cede long-held land to the Palestinians.

The investigation is the fifth against Olmert since his government took office exactly two years ago and the latest in a longer string of probes to dog him during his three decades in politics. He has not been charged in the most recent corruption investigations, and has never been convicted of wrongdoing.
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Still, the corruption probes have hurt his standing, which also has been battered by the inconclusive 2006 war in Lebanon, and ongoing Palestinian rocket and mortar fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Olmert said the latest investigation has unleashed a wave of rumors, most of them malicious and wicked.

"When the facts become clear," he said, "they will lay the rumors to rest," he insisted.

"In the meantime, I have an agenda as the prime minister of Israel," he said. "I intend to continue with this agenda and continue my job."

The affair touched off a media tempest, with newspaper front pages and radio stations focusing almost exclusively on Olmert's new predicament. Political opponents quickly predicted that Olmert's days at Israel's helm were numbered.

Against the backdrop of this latest investigation, the prime minister canceled traditional Independence Day interviews with Israel Radio, Army Radio and the news Website Ynet. His office confirmed the cancellations, citing the gag order on the investigation.

Meanwhile, Olmert's party Kadima elected to keep mum about the affair, despite confusion and embarrassment within the party, with none of the senior Kadima members rushing to respond to the vague charges.

According to sources in Kadima "this is a blow to the party, which only now has begun to recuperate in the polls and rehabilitate itself from the damages of the Winograd [2006 Second Lebanon War probe] report. This affair sounds dramatic, and is not confined to Olmert. We are all hurt by it. Either this is really serious, or [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz will have a lot of explaining to do about how a prime minister was almost arrested on Friday."

The only member of Kadima to comment on the criminal investigation was MK Yoel Hasson who said that "from past experience, all the investigations against prime ministers began with a bang and ended up with nothing. The political arena must avoid hysteria and refrain from making hasty political decisions that could destabilize the government."

Associates of the prime minister said that precisely now, "when Olmert is finally on the right track and is promoting political processes, an investigation such as this is a painful blow."

Olmert was questioned on Friday in Jerusalem for a bit more than an hour. This was a relatively short interview meant mostly to hear his initial response to the suspicions against him and to secure his version of the story, to prevent him from diverting from it in the future.

At the end of the interview the Prime Minister's Bureau issued a statement to the press with Olmert's version about the suspicions against him, which was quickly followed by a Police announcement of the court's gag order.

According to sources close to the investigation, the evidence against the prime minister is "very serious."

"The initial evidence collected has been sufficiently sound, and there is a real basis for the suspicions against Olmert," a police source said.

Police said Saturday that they view this as the most serious case against the prime minister with the strongest evidence.

Thursday, Olmert's office issued a statement saying that the PM "is convinced that with the emergence of the truth as part of the police investigation, all suspicions against him will evaporate."

Police sources made it clear that one of the reasons for the rushed request to question Olmert stemmed from concerns that the investigation would be disrupted once critical information was revealed.

The same sources explained that the immediate interview stemmed from Olmert's status and the fact that the police could not impose restrictions, such as house arrest, preventing use of the telephone and meetings with persons with whom he could coordinate his version of events.

After the interview with the prime minister, members of the police investigation squad and officials from the Justice Ministry met with State Prosecutor Moshe Lador, and later, in a broader forum, with Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.

The two senior officials were briefed on the interview, and decisions were made on how to proceed with the investigation.

A Justice Ministry source close to the investigation said Saturday that the PM is not likely to be interviewed again in the coming days. The source described the evidence against Olmert as "not insignificant."

The Justice Ministry issued a statement Saturday night rejecting reports in which it was suggested that the ministry had taken a stance on the prime minister's continued stay in power, in light of the investigation.

Attorney Yehoshua Resnick, a former deputy state prosecutor, said Saturday that there is nothing wrong with urgent interviews, but acknowledged that he does not recall any instances in which a public figure was called in for questioning with the urgency that Olmert has been.

"In the past there have been quick interviews that were authorized by the State Prosecutor's Office," Resnick said. "For example, raids on a ministry where it was suspected material essential to an investigation was being destroyed. Such an urgent investigation is normally required to prevent coordination of testimonies with other suspects or the need to receive initial testimony from a suspect."

However, Resnick was highly critical of the decision to impose a gag order on the details of the case. At least, he said, it is necessary to reveal to the public at least the generalities of the investigation, so people will know what is going on.

"When it is an elected official, the public needs to know what suspicions are directed at him, especially when that person is the prime minister," Resnick said.

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      1.   PM Livni sounds good! Doesn`t it? 03:48  |  MOE 04/05/08
      2.   Bringing down Olmert means bring down PEACE 03:50  |  Mohammed 04/05/08
      3.   An old Israeli trick: Change PM to restart negotiations from zero 04:28  |  Aounist 04/05/08
      4.   Its time for Olmert to do the correct thing for once RESIGN NOW 04:37  |  Dish It Out 04/05/08
      5.   Another Investigation of PM 06:16  |  Bailey 04/05/08
      6.   OLMERT IS A DEFEATIST WHO CAVES INTO BOTH TERRORIST GROUPS 06:57  |  Robinson 04/05/08
      7.   Is Olmert on his way to be turned into an Etrog ? 07:17  |  Joseph . E 04/05/08
      8.   Fooling the Stupid Bush 07:23  |  Atoo 04/05/08
      9.   a fitting end, go home and go quietly before you give away Israel 07:40  |  david 04/05/08
      10.   To # 2 - Mohammed - Bringing down Olmert 07:49  |  Dagma 04/05/08
      11.   The USA needs a weak Israeli PM 08:28  |  MiddleStanian 04/05/08
      12.   Looks like `whitewashing` is in progress..... 08:36  |  Dolly 04/05/08
      13.   2 & 3 - no peace talks were going on - just a farce 08:37  |  redmike 04/05/08
      14.   `Money Talks`. 08:39  |  charlie 04/05/08
      15.   #3 Aounist. I suggest a new Israeli "trick". 09:06  |  Chaim 04/05/08
      16.   to #10 dogma 09:44  |  bashar 04/05/08
      17.   BRING DOWN THIS CORRUPT GOVERNMENT, NOW! 10:04  |  Wise Saba 04/05/08
      18.   Powerless to make peace, powerless to make war 10:09  |  Yonatan 04/05/08
      19.   To # 1 - MOE - PM Livni sounds good...??? 10:16  |  Dagma 04/05/08
      20.   To bashar # 16 - Palestinian/Arabs..... 10:41  |  Dagma 04/05/08
      21.   What weakens and corrupts our leaders 11:10  |  Dror 04/05/08
      22.   sounds rather fishy 11:15  |  paul 04/05/08
      23.   If needs be.... 11:34  |  Esther 04/05/08
      24.   "Keep doing my job?" 11:39  |  JordanisPalestine 04/05/08
      25.   Olmert Please Retire 11:39  |  Steve 04/05/08
      26.   I AM SURE THAT HE WILL KEEP 11:49  |  Robert 04/05/08
      27.   Olmert should join shas 11:50  |  SJ 04/05/08
      28.   Some people might curse Israel, but there are even more wicked 12:04  |  Andreas 04/05/08
      29.   What RUMOR?? The police came to your house to question the PM!!!! 12:15  |  Ben 04/05/08
      30.   OLMERT = APPEASING TERROR 12:18  |  jacob 04/05/08
      31.   No Hari Kari for Olmert 12:24  |  Zev 04/05/08
      32.   HE`S BEEN DOING "HIS JOB" ALL THE 12:52  |  Robert 04/05/08
      33.   WHAT "RUMORS", THEY JUST CAME TO 12:56  |  Robert 04/05/08
      34.   EVER heard of any Arab leader questioned for ANY reason? 13:07  |  PETER SM 04/05/08
      35.   # 23 Esther - Don`t be fooled by Livni..... 13:15  |  Natasha 04/05/08
      36.   To zev # 31 - Pardon Olmert? for WHAT??? 13:28  |  The Threadmill 04/05/08
      37.   AOUNIT AN old Lebanese trick.Car bomb elections 13:30  |  PETER SM 04/05/08
      38.   THEY ARE NOT RUMOURS MR.OLME3RT! 13:40  |  The Serious One 04/05/08
      39.   Esther #23 13:51  |  S 04/05/08
      40.   #23 Esther, What does a wardrobe has to do with running 13:52  |  Haham me Bat Yam 04/05/08
      41.   its all HOT air 14:05  |  tony harris 04/05/08
      42.   THESE ARE NOT VICIOUS RUMOURS MR. OLMERT 14:05  |  The Serious One 04/05/08
      43.   Stop doing your job 14:10  |  fred 04/05/08
      44.   You have to keep doing your job 14:15  |  MiddleStanian 04/05/08
      45.   $ 34 Peter SM 14:16  |  JordanisPalestine 04/05/08
      46.   Re Natasha #35 14:18  |  Esther 04/05/08
      47.   Is it an accident, NO 14:53  |  El-Birawi 04/05/08
      48.   Esther @ TA - Is 15:03  |  Joseph . E 04/05/08
      49.   #36 Olmert pardon 15:10  |  Beni 04/05/08
      50.   Even if upsetting Isr.- Pal. negotiations won`t start from zero. 15:12  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/05/08
      51.   Follow the money 15:12  |  Tal 04/05/08
      52.   It appears Olmert is not doing his 15:14  |  Chris Linthwaite 04/05/08
      53.   So, When Is The Last Date By Which Elections Must Be Held? 15:36  |  Jeff Northridge 04/05/08
      54.   DAGMA 42 -" Vicious Rumours "is your Interpretation 15:53  |  charlie 04/05/08
      55.   Olmert is Publicly Dhimmedias Crucified Before Even a Due Trial 15:59  |  Joseph . E 04/05/08
      56.   Olmert is not capable of the doing the right thing and RESIGN NOW 16:03  |  Shepherd 04/05/08
      57.   no worry 16:33  |  Mary 04/05/08
      58.   THE ISRAEL IS TEMPERORAY LAND. AMERICA IS THE FUTURE ISRAEL. 16:45  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 04/05/08
      59.   israeli leaders... 16:45  |  bashar 04/05/08
      60.   what job? he has 3% support! 16:51  |  v hardman 04/05/08
      61.   For the rule of law, Olmert should not resign yet 16:54  |  Tosefta 04/05/08
      62.   Scandals 17:26  |  ccope72 04/05/08
      63.   I`ll keep doing my job.......says Olmert..... 18:27  |  The Threadmill 04/05/08
      64.   pride 19:13  |  yoni 04/05/08
      65.   #1 Moe. P.M. Livni sounds dreadful. New elections sound good. 00:10  |  Chaim 05/05/08
      66.   What does Olmert`s job description say? 00:17  |  Chaim 05/05/08
      67.   Where is BIBI in all this? 01:51  |  David James Vickery 05/05/08
      68.   And Chaim....