Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's opponents demanded Friday the premier step down over suspicions that hundreds of thousands of dollars he received over many years from a US businessman were bribes. Ending a week of wild speculation, an Israeli court late Thursday partially removed a gag order imposed on a new police investigation against Olmert, as part of which he was first questioned last Friday.
In an impromptu news conference in Jerusalem late Thursday held almost immediately after the gag order was lifted, Olmert did not deny that he received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Morris Talansky, a businessman and fundraiser from Long Island, who collected the money from unknown Jewish donors in the United States.
But the premier said the funds were all used for four different elections campaigns - when he ran for mayor of Jerusalem in 1993 and 1998 and for the leadership of his former Likud party in 1999 and 2002.
He said he would only resign if an indictment was filed against him.
"There was nothing wrong about the donations which were raised on my behalf," said Olmert, who now heads the ruling, centrist Kadima party.
"I look into the eyes of each and every one of you and say: I have never taken bribes. I never took a dime into my own pocket.
"I was elected by you, the citizens of Israel, to stand at the head of the Israeli government. I have no intention of shaking off my responsibility," he said.
But he added: "If the state attorney decides on an indictment against me, I will resign from my post. I hope and believe we won't get to that stage, but if such a decision is made, I won't need spurring or lecturing (to resign) by anyone."
Law enforcement officials said they expected a decision about an indictment in several months, and said there was a "high probability" there would be one. They spoke to Israeli media on condition of anonymity, because the gag order is still partially in place.
Talansky has been in Israel since April and has testified to the police about passing the money to Olmert, who is said to have received part of it directly, and part of it indirectly, via his right-hand lawyer Uri Messer and office manager Shula Zaken. He is suspected of receiving much of the money in cash, in envelopes.
Police are investigating to what extent the donations surpassed the maximum amount allowed under Israeli law, whether Olmert did indeed use them only for his election campaigns or whether he pocketed it, who the donors were and whether a quid pro quo was implied.
If indicted, Olmert could face charges ranging from illegal election fundraising and falsifying corporate documents, to taking bribes.
The veteran Israeli politician has faced several earlier police investigations, including those into suspicions that, as finance minister in late 2005, he tried to favour two business friends by changing the terms of the tender for the privatization sale of Israel's national Leumi Bank. That investigation was closed in November and did not materialize into an indictment.
He has also been accused of buying his Jerusalem home in late 2004 for some 325,000 US dollars below the market price, in return for helping the contractor obtain building permits from the Jerusalem municipality. That probe is still ongoing.
Olmert's associates have accused "right-wing" elements of sparking the latest police investigation, in a bid to torpedo the revived peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
The premier himself hinted in that direction too, when he said in his news conference: "These days, we are in the midst of a process critical for Israel's future and security. ... I hope that also this storm will pass as quickly as it was ignited."
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the investigation was an "internal Israeli matter" in which the Palestinian Authority did "not interfere."
"But we closely monitor what is going on," he said. "Early elections mean that the peace process will be interrupted," he told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
