Olmert vows to resign if indicted

By JTA Staff · May 8, 2008

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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 lifted a 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 has been questioned by Israeli police. Olmert said he never personally received any money, and that the fund were raised legally for his campaigns.

It remans unclear what, if anything, Olmert did in return for the funds.

Israeli officials stressed that Talansky’s questioning should not be construed as implying that an indictment will be served to Olmert. Talansky was asked to provide a preliminary statement because he happened to be in the country and it may be needed if an indictment is eventually served.

The police decided to ask for a lifting of the gag order on the Israeli media 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.

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

(For more on Talansky, click here.)