Olmert to Resign After September Vote
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel said on Wednesday he would resign after his ruling Kadima Party chooses a new leader in a September 17 internal election.
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, embroiled in a high-profile corruption investigation, announced Wednesday that he would resign his office after his party chose a new leader in September elections.
In a televised public statement made from his official residence in Jerusalem, Mr. Olmert said he would not take part in the leadership election for his Kadima Party, opening the way for the next party leader to try to form a new government.
“I have decided not to compete in the primaries in Kadima,” he said. “I will resign from my role as prime minister to allow a new leader to form a new government efficiently and quickly.”
The first-round of the party elections is scheduled for Sept. 17. Contenders for the party leadership include Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads the Israeli negotiating team in talks with the Palestinians, and Shaul Mofaz, the more hawkish transportation minister and former army chief and defense minister.
Failure by the new leader to form a government could lead to fresh general elections — currently scheduled for 2010 — in which, according to opinion polls, Kadima would struggle. The conservative Likud Party is ahead in opinion polls.
Mr. Olmert vowed to continue to work on ongoing peace talks with the Palestinians and with Syria, though it was not clear what traction he would now have. A White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, said that Mr. Olmert and President Bush spoke just before the announcement. “He wishes him well and will continue to work closely with him while he remains prime minister,” Mr. Johndroe said. He went on to describe relations during Mr. Olmert’s tenure as “exceptionally close and cooperative.” “We’re confident that the close United States-Israel relationship will continue in the future,” he added.
Mr. Olmert’s announcement marks the end of at least this stage of his political career. He has been under pressure in a high-profile investigation, suspected of illicitly receiving large sums of cash over a long period from a Long Island businessman.
He has not been indicted and denies any wrongdoing, but had already pledged to resign if charged. He again vowed, in his statement on Wednesday, to continue to fight to “prove my innocence and a clean hand.” The September vote will be the first leadership vote for Kadima, which was established in late 2005 by Ariel Sharon, who was then the prime minister. Mr. Olmert became acting prime minister when Mr. Sharon had a stroke in January 2006 and prime minister when Kadima won general elections in March 2006.
Mr. Olmert had agreed in June to hold the Kadima leadership vote as a concession to his main coalition partner, the Labor Party.
Against the background of the corruption investigation, the Labor Party chief and defense minister, Ehud Barak, who is also a potential rival for the post of prime minister, had urged Labor legislators to back a bill that could have dissolved the current Parliament and led to early general elections.
Mr. Olmert agreed to the party elections, although until his announcement Wednesday it was unclear whether he would take part.
His decision came after the preliminary cross-examination of Morris Talansky, the Long Island businessman Mr. Olmert is suspected of receiving cash from.
Mr. Talansky, a resident of Woodsburgh in Nassau County and a frequent visitor to Israel, has testified in an Israeli court that he gave Mr. Olmert about $150,000, mostly in cash. Mr. Talansky said he made the payments between 1992 and late 2005, years when Mr. Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and a government minister. He became prime minister in 2006.
Mr. Olmert has acknowledged receiving money from Mr. Talansky but insists that the payments were all legitimate campaign contributions. Mr. Talansky said some of the money went to pay for personal expenses. Mr. Talansky denies having sought or received any favors in return.
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