Israeli PM fights for political life in bribery scandal

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was facing mounting calls on Friday to resign over a criminal probe into allegations he took bribes from a millionaire US financier.

Olmert has vehemently denied any wrongdoing but said he would quit if he is charged in a case that threatens to shake the political landscape at a crucial moment in Middle East peacemaking.

Pressure on the 62-year-old premier mounted after a gag order over the case was lifted on Thursday. The timing was particularly embarrassing for Olmert, coming as Israel celebrated its 60th anniversary and a week before a scheduled visit by US President George W. Bush.

Gideon Star, who heads the parliamentary group of the conservative opposition party Likud, said that "considering the...