Police call Ehud Olmert for urgent questioning

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to be questioned by police this morning under caution. It will be held at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem and is expected to last about an hour. The reason for the questioning is not known.

Detectives from the national police fraud unit asked to meet with Olmert urgently, within 48 hours. The police attempted to keep the questioning secret but it was reported last night by Channel 2 television news. Despite the report and despite previous promises by National Police Commissioner David Cohen and other senior police officials to notify the media in advance about Olmert's investigation, national police headquarters yesterday refused to comment.

Police officials had sought to question Olmert on Wednesday, after receiving special permission from the attorney general.

"The prime minister intends to fully cooperate with law enforcement officials as he has in the past and he is convinced that once the truth is disclosed in the framework of the police investigation, the suspicions against him will disappear," a statement issued yesterday by the Prime Minister's Office said.

Police sources confirmed the imminent questioning but said the exact time could change.

It is not known which affair Olmert is expected to be questioned about. In the past, it was reported that three concurrent investigations were being conducted against Olmert: the Investment Center affair, the affair surrounding political appointments in the Small Business Authority and the "house on Cremieux Street" affair.

Olmert has been questioned in the past under caution. Last October a police fraud unit team came to his home to take statements regarding changes in the tender for Bank Leumi. At the time, Olmert was suspected of having acted to alter the conditions of the tender to favor a friend, Frank Lowy, who was considering submitting a bid. Olmert was questioned for two days, following which he fell ill with a cold. In the end, the police announced that Olmert was not suspected of criminal behavior in connection with the affair.

A few months before that, detectives came to the prime minister's residence to hear Olmert's version of events vis-a-vis the Tax Authority affair. At the time the police announced that Olmert was not a suspect in the affair, but was merely being questioned over the appointment process for senior officials in the organization and over the role of his office manager, Shula Zaken, in the affair.

In November, the fraud unit conducted a major evidence-gathering operation relating to investigations against Olmert. One hundred detectives raided 20 different sites simultaneously, confiscating a large number of computers and documents. The material involved all three of the affairs reportedly being investigated. Among the sites raided was the office of the minister of trade and industry and other offices in the ministry; the Israel Lands Administration; the employment bureau; the Small Business Authority and the Investments Center. Documents were also collected from the offices of attorney Uri Messer, the Alumot real estate developer, the postal authority and the Jerusalem municipality.