HOWZAT

Seeking to strike a sympathetic chord in the hearts of his constituents, he said: “I want to make it clear that I am proud to be a citizen of a country where the prime minister can be investigated like a regular citizen. It is the duty of the police to investigate, and the duty of the prosecution to instruct the police. The prime minister is not above the law.”

Under his leadership Israel has resumed peace talks with the Palestinian leadership after eight years of conflict, and recently announced that it was holding indirect talks with Syria, which Damascus has said it hopes to upgrade to direct negotiations.

Some critics had said that the talks were ploys by the besieged Prime Minister to hold at bay investigations into his financial dealings, allegations of cronyism, and bribery in the case of Mr Talansky.

Mr Olmert had announced earlier in the day that the pressure of clearing his name and running the country was too much. “This is terrible, you can’t run a country this way,” the furious Prime Minister told MPs.

Ms Livni is the favourite to succeed Mr Olmert but she will face tough competition, most notably from Shaul Mofaz, the hardline Transport Minister who served as the army chief of staff under Mr Sharon.

A life in numbers

28 Ehud Olmert’s age on joining the Israeli parliament, making him the youngest politician to do so

62 His age today

10 Number of years as Mayor of Jerusalem

100 The number of days that Ariel Sharon was in hospital before Mr Olmert became Prime Minister in 2006

1,200 The number of Lebanese who were killed in the 2006 Lebanon war, for which Mr Olmert was heavily criticised

£75,000 The amount that Morris Talansky alleges he gave Mr Olmert

48 The percentage of polled Israelis who thought that Mr Olmert should resign in the direct aftermath of Mr Talansky’s testimony

Sources: www.imra.org.il ; Times Archive

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