Olmert: I’ll resign if indicted

By · May 8, 2008

Ehud Olmert said he will resign if he is indicted in a new criminal investigation.

Olmert made the statement late Thursday night from his Jerusalem residence after an Israeli court eased a media gag order on the case at the request of police.

The Israeli prime minister is accused of receiving bribes from an American businessman when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and as Industry, Trade and Labor minister.

In his statement, Olmert said he received campaign donations for his mayoral campaign and his bid to head the Likud Party from Morris “Moshe” Talansky of Woodmere, N.Y., who is to be questioned by Israeli police. Olmert said he never personally received any money.

“I never took bribes, I never took a penny for myself,” he said.

The police decided to ask for a partial lifting of the gag order following a three-hour meeting of the investigating police team with Attorney General Menahem Mazuz and State Attorney Moshe Lador.

The gag order had lost its significance, police said, because of foreign media reports. The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court, however, still would not allow some details of the case to be released.

On Tuesday, the New York Post released Talansky’s name on its Web site.