JERUSALEM, April 25: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, already weakened by a string of headline-grabbing scandals, was on Wednesday threatened with another criminal probe into suspected corruption.
Recommendations for a criminal inquiry were made in a report presented by Israel's public watchdog to parliament, the premier and attorney general, examining a suspected conflict of interest while Olmert was a cabinet minister.
The findings whipped up renewed resignation calls against Olmert, whose ratings have sunk to historic lows, just days before findings are to published from a potentially damning report into last year's Lebanon war.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss accused Olmert of trying to advance a former business partner's interests by extending state funds to help him set up a factory in southern Israel while trade and industry minister.
In Israel, only attorney general Menachem Mazuz has the power to order the opening of a criminal investigation against a sitting prime minister.
“The investigation has revealed suspicions of criminal activities, the state comptroller has presented his conclusions to the attorney general,” said the top public watchdog's office in a statement.
“Minister Olmert's relations with the company representative, his decisive intervention in various ways over the development of the project, despite a conflict of interest, raise suspicions about his integrity,” it said.
The former business partner in question is lawyer Uriel Meser, who is widely credited with having Olmert elected as Jerusalem mayor in 1998.
In a statement carried by the online news site Ynet, the prime minister's office said in response that Olmert had lost his faith in the top public watchdog.
“The comptroller's conduct has unfortunately once again broken records of unprofessional behaviour and favouritism in his work,” a statement said.
Lindenstrauss has previously recommended a criminal probe into appointments that Olmert made during his stint as trade and industry minister.
Members of the left- and right-wing political opposition swiftly stepped up calls for the 61-year-old Olmert to resign.
“Take pity on Israeli citizens and free them from the presence of Ehud Olmert in the prime minister's office,” said Gilad Erdan, a member of the main right-wing opposition Likud party.
“Olmert should make way for someone who can relieve the state from political and social challenges and who is not permanently preoccupied with defending himself,” said Yossi Beilin, leader of the left-wing Meretz party.
Olmert, who served as trade and industry minister under previous prime minister Ariel Sharon, became premier in January 2006 when his long-time mentor Sharon suffered a massive stroke that ended his public career.
He went on to win a general election in March 2006 but a series of graft probes against Olmert along with a host of other corruption probes and scandals involving other senior officials have hammered his government.
Next week a government commission into the Lebanon war, which was widely castigated as a failure in Israel, is to publish an interim report expected to draw specific conclusions about Olmert's conduct during last summer's conflict.
The Winograd Commission was set up on Sept 17 under massive pressure from thousands of army reservists who publicly slammed the army's inadequate preparation for battle and politicians for mismanaging the war.
Last Sunday, Israel's finance minister Avraham Hirshson took a three-month leave of absence over a police investigation into claims that millions of dollars was embezzled from a trade union he once headed.
President Moshe Katsav has also taken a leave of absence amid a looming rape indictment in the most serious charges ever levelled against an Israeli leader.—AFP
