But Mr. Olmert, who has not been charged, seemed determined to stay put. Late Wednesday, according to the Israeli news media, he said, “There are those who believe that the launching of any investigation demands a resignation, but I don’t adhere to this notion and I will not step down.”
An official close to Mr. Olmert said, “The prime minister is convinced that as this investigation continues, it will become absolutely clear he did nothing wrong.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public.
Mr. Olmert has promised to resign if charged.
Mr. Barak, a former prime minister, was the first senior member of Israel’s coalition government to demand that Mr. Olmert give up his office over the corruption case.
“The prime minister must disconnect himself from the daily running of the government,” Mr. Barak said at a lunchtime news conference broadcast live from the Parliament building. Given the difficult strategic challenges facing Israel, Mr. Barak said, he did not think Mr. Olmert could “simultaneously run the government and deal with his personal affair.”
Mr. Barak convened the news conference to explain his party’s position a day after a Long Island businessman at the center of the corruption investigation testified in court here that he gave about $150,000, mostly in cash stuffed into envelopes, to Mr. Olmert over the course of 13 years. He said the money was for campaign financing and personal expenses.
The businessman, Morris Talansky, has denied that he ever expected anything in return, and he said his generosity reflected “extreme, extreme admiration” for Mr. Olmert, who he said he believed could heal divisions between religious and secular Jews.
Mr. Olmert, who the police say is suspected of receiving illicit funds, has described the money as legitimate contributions for election campaigns and has denied ever taking a bribe.
The statements by Mr. Barak, who leads the Labor Party, an essential partner in the governing coalition, dealt a further blow to the embattled prime minister. Despite Mr. Olmert’s reputation as a savvy political survivor, many political analysts say they do not expect him to remain in office for more than a few months.
“The question,” said Gadi Wolfsfeld of Hebrew University’s department of political science, “is at what point does the stink become so bad that the politicians feel they can no longer defend him?” That point, he said, seemed very near.
Interviewed on Channel 2 television’s evening news program, Ronnie Bar-On, the finance minister and an Olmert loyalist, was asked if this was the beginning of the end for the prime minister. “I hope not,” he replied.
Mr. Barak said Mr. Olmert could choose to suspend himself, take a holiday or resign, and he advised Mr. Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party to act quickly to bring in a new leader.
If it did not, Mr. Barak said, he would work within Parliament to reach an agreed date for early elections.
But he did not set a date for Mr. Olmert to stand aside and did not take the further step of removing his party from the coalition in order to bring the government down. Mr. Barak’s declaration followed pressure from critics — including some in his own party — who accuse him of propping up Mr. Olmert.
Mr. Barak made a similar demand of Mr. Olmert a year ago after an official commission published a scathing interim report on the failings of Mr. Olmert’s government and the military in conducting the 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
At the time, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Mr. Olmert’s own deputy in Kadima, also called on the prime minister to resign, as did more than 100,000 protesters in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Mr. Olmert, however, survived.
In an unusual move, the Israeli courts ruled last week that Mr. Talansky, 75, the Long Island businessman, should give an early deposition even though Mr. Olmert has not been charged. Mr. Talansky, who lives in Woodsburgh in Nassau County, has been eager to return to the United States, and the Israeli authorities feared that he might not return to Israel if Mr. Olmert were put on trial.
Mr. Talansky told the court that he was no billionaire and portrayed the prime minister as a man with expensive tastes who failed to repay personal loans.
Mr. Olmert’s lawyers played down the legal implications of Mr. Talansky’s testimony. One of them, Eli Zohar, called it “twisted” and urged patience until the cross-examination of the witness in mid-July.
But there is no doubt that Mr. Talansky’s allegations further sullied the already tarnished public image of Mr. Olmert, who is generally unpopular and under investigation in several other matters.
Opponents and former allies questioned whether Mr. Olmert had enough focus or moral authority to continue running the affairs of state, which include delicate negotiations with the Palestinians over statehood, decisions about how to deal with Hamas and indirect peace talks with Syria over the Golan Heights.
On Wednesday, Ami Ayalon, a Labor Party minister who lost a party leadership race to Mr. Barak, told Israel Radio, “The State of Israel needs a prime minister and needs the ability to make decisions no less than the prime minister or a citizen has the right to defend himself.”
Israeli Defense Chief Asks Olmert to Quit
But Mr. Olmert, who has not been charged, seemed determined to stay put. Late Wednesday, according to the Israeli news media, he said, “There are those who believe that the launching of any investigation demands a resignation, but I don’t adhere to this notion and I will not step down.”
An official close to Mr. Olmert said, “The prime minister is convinced that as this investigation continues, it will become absolutely clear he did nothing wrong.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter in public.
Mr. Olmert has promised to resign if charged.
Mr. Barak, a former prime minister, was the first senior member of Israel’s coalition government to demand that Mr. Olmert give up his office over the corruption case.
“The prime minister must disconnect himself from the daily running of the government,” Mr. Barak said at a lunchtime news conference broadcast live from the Parliament building. Given the difficult strategic challenges facing Israel, Mr. Barak said, he did not think Mr. Olmert could “simultaneously run the government and deal with his personal affair.”
Mr. Barak convened the news conference to explain his party’s position a day after a Long Island businessman at the center of the corruption investigation testified in court here that he gave about $150,000, mostly in cash stuffed into envelopes, to Mr. Olmert over the course of 13 years. He said the money was for campaign financing and personal expenses.
The businessman, Morris Talansky, has denied that he ever expected anything in return, and he said his generosity reflected “extreme, extreme admiration” for Mr. Olmert, who he said he believed could heal divisions between religious and secular Jews.
Mr. Olmert, who the police say is suspected of receiving illicit funds, has described the money as legitimate contributions for election campaigns and has denied ever taking a bribe.
The statements by Mr. Barak, who leads the Labor Party, an essential partner in the governing coalition, dealt a further blow to the embattled prime minister. Despite Mr. Olmert’s reputation as a savvy political survivor, many political analysts say they do not expect him to remain in office for more than a few months.
“The question,” said Gadi Wolfsfeld of Hebrew University’s department of political science, “is at what point does the stink become so bad that the politicians feel they can no longer defend him?” That point, he said, seemed very near.
Interviewed on Channel 2 television’s evening news program, Ronnie Bar-On, the finance minister and an Olmert loyalist, was asked if this was the beginning of the end for the prime minister. “I hope not,” he replied.
Mr. Barak said Mr. Olmert could choose to suspend himself, take a holiday or resign, and he advised Mr. Olmert’s centrist Kadima Party to act quickly to bring in a new leader.
If it did not, Mr. Barak said, he would work within Parliament to reach an agreed date for early elections.
But he did not set a date for Mr. Olmert to stand aside and did not take the further step of removing his party from the coalition in order to bring the government down. Mr. Barak’s declaration followed pressure from critics — including some in his own party — who accuse him of propping up Mr. Olmert.
Mr. Barak made a similar demand of Mr. Olmert a year ago after an official commission published a scathing interim report on the failings of Mr. Olmert’s government and the military in conducting the 2006 war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
At the time, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Mr. Olmert’s own deputy in Kadima, also called on the prime minister to resign, as did more than 100,000 protesters in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Mr. Olmert, however, survived.
In an unusual move, the Israeli courts ruled last week that Mr. Talansky, 75, the Long Island businessman, should give an early deposition even though Mr. Olmert has not been charged. Mr. Talansky, who lives in Woodsburgh in Nassau County, has been eager to return to the United States, and the Israeli authorities feared that he might not return to Israel if Mr. Olmert were put on trial.
Mr. Talansky told the court that he was no billionaire and portrayed the prime minister as a man with expensive tastes who failed to repay personal loans.
Mr. Olmert’s lawyers played down the legal implications of Mr. Talansky’s testimony. One of them, Eli Zohar, called it “twisted” and urged patience until the cross-examination of the witness in mid-July.
But there is no doubt that Mr. Talansky’s allegations further sullied the already tarnished public image of Mr. Olmert, who is generally unpopular and under investigation in several other matters.
Opponents and former allies questioned whether Mr. Olmert had enough focus or moral authority to continue running the affairs of state, which include delicate negotiations with the Palestinians over statehood, decisions about how to deal with Hamas and indirect peace talks with Syria over the Golan Heights.
On Wednesday, Ami Ayalon, a Labor Party minister who lost a party leadership race to Mr. Barak, told Israel Radio, “The State of Israel needs a prime minister and needs the ability to make decisions no less than the prime minister or a citizen has the right to defend himself.”
