Olmert defies calls to resign over cash scandal
Published Date:
10 May 2008
By Adam Entous
EHUD Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, defied a barrage of calls to resign yesterday after he admitted taking cash from an American businessman at the centre of a bribery investigation.
Palestinian officials fear it could disrupt the fragile US-sponsored peace talks. Mr Olmert is the chief negotiating partner with the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and is due to host President George Bush at Israel's 60th birthday celebrations next week.
Legal sources say police suspect that Olmert took hundreds of thousands of dollars from a New York Jewish financier over a decade, funding his campaigns for Jerusalem Mayor and Likud party posts. Morris Talansky was tagged "The Laundry Man" in coded records kept by Mr Olmert's secretary, it is suggested.
"Millions of shekels – cash in hand," screamed top-selling tabloid Maariv. Israeli media splashed the story after police lifted a gag order imposed on the case after Olmert was interviewed.
Mr Olmert pressed ahead with his official duties yesterday, insisting that he would resign only if the attorney general was prepared to indict him.
Israelis have grown used to tales of corruption and many noted that Mr Olmert has ridden out a series of other scandals.
The full article contains 204 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
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Last Updated:
09 May 2008 10:02 PM
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Source:
The Scotsman
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Location:
Edinburgh
