Word: olmert
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...blame Israelis for being disgusted with their politicians? A sex scandal brought down the last President; a former Finance Minister faces indictment over alleged fraud, theft and money-laundering; and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may be indicted for taking more than $150,000, mostly in cash, from a New York businessman. A popular bumper sticker says, OLMERT, YOU DISGUST ME. The deepening sense of odium is reflected in Olmert's single-digit popularity ratings. He may be forced to resign within weeks, and already politicians have begun to handicap the succession...
...Olmert Under Fire...
Pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to resign is mounting. On May 28, Ehud Barak, the current Defense Minister and a former Prime Minister, called on Olmert to step aside, saying he is too distracted by an ongoing corruption probe to effectively lead. On May 27, a U.S. businessman testified in a Jerusalem court that he gave Olmert $150,000 over 15 years ending in 2003--much of it in cash stuffed in envelopes. Olmert, who earlier had disclosed that Israel was in the midst of conducting peace talks with Syria, says the funds were legal campaign contributions...
...very different. As he often does on such trips, Bush held one-on-one talks with key leaders on his recent trip, during which aides were asked to leave the room and particularly sensitive matters were discussed. After a similar one-on-one last January, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was asked at a press conference with Bush whether the American leader's "hands were tied" when it came to Iran. Olmert said his impression after talks with Bush was that the President is "exceptionally determined," and that "he has proven this throughout his term in office his preparedness to take...
...Another hindrance to any Olmert-Assad accord is the Bush Administration's almost visceral hostility toward Syria, which it regards as an auxiliary of the Axis of Evil. President Bush has made no secret of the fact that he regards Assad as a running dog for Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and just weeks ago, the Administration was trying to persuade the world that Syria was trying to acquire nuclear technology. Unless Washington signs off on it, no accord between Damascus and Jerusalem is worth the paper on which it is written...