In Israel, Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stated, " Israel will not conduct any negotiation with a Palestinian government if it includes any members of an armed terror organization that calls for Israel's destruction.

In 2008, with Israel's then prime minister, Ehud Olmert, being pressured to resign due to corruption charges, Mofaz announced that he would run for the leadership of the Kadima party.

However on 1 July 2007, Barak led a successful effort in the Labor central committee to stipulate that Labor would leave the government coalition if Olmert did not resign by September or October 2007.

In a talk scheduled minutes after Katsav's speech, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called on him to resign from the presidency.

Facing a challenge for the leadership of Kadima from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, on 30 July 2008, Olmert announced that he would not seek re-election as party leader and that he would resign from his position as Prime Minister immediately after a new Kadima leader was named.

Following the 2006 Lebanon War, Olmert's popularity ratings fell, and on 15 September 2006, former chief of staff Moshe Ya ' alon publicly stated that Olmert should resign.

President Bush wrote in his memoirs that the talks broke down when Olmert announced that he would resign from office, and Abbas refused to finalize an agreement or continue the talks on the grounds that he did not want to sign a peace deal with a prime minister on his way out of office.

On 30 July 2008 Olmert announced that he would not contest the Kadima party leadership election in September, and would resign from office once his party elects a new leader.

On 2 March 2008, Abbas stated he was suspending peace talks with Israel, while Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to press on with military operations against militants who have been launching home-made rockets into southern Israel.

In his first major policy address after becoming caretaker Prime Minister, on 24 January 2006 Olmert stated that he backed the creation of a Palestinian state, and that Israel would have to relinquish parts of the West Bank to maintain its Jewish majority.

On 9 December 2006 Olmert stated that he could not rule out the possibility of a military attack against Iran, and called for the international community to step up action against that country.

Olmert later stated that U. S. President George W. Bush offered to accept another 100, 000 refugees as American citizens if a peace agreement was signed.

Olmert stated that the resumption of peace talks with Syria was a national obligation that must be tried.

On 1 February 2009, Olmert stated:

Olmert opined, " As a Jew, I was ashamed at the scenes of Jews opening fire at innocent Arabs in Hebron.

* Academics: Ahron Bregman, Richard I. Cohen, Uri Davis, Gerson Goldhaber, Igal Talmi, Haim Harari, Joshua Jortner, Alexander Levitzki, Efraim Karsh, Asa Kasher, Walter Laqueur, Avishai Margalit, Dana Olmert, Miri Rubin, Ada Yonath, Amit Schejter, Benjamin Elazari Volcani

Olmert's grandfather J. J. Olmert settled in Harbin after fleeing post-World War I Russia.

In July 2008, Haaretz wrote that in 1992, Olmert took a loan from U. S. businessman Joe Almaliah, but never repaid it, and concealed the true size of the loan from the State Comptroller.

Olmert said that his father had never forgotten his Chinese hometown after moving to what was then the British Mandate of Palestine, in 1933 at the age of 22.

According to Israeli law, if a Prime Minister is temporarily incapacitated rather than dies ( as was the case following Ariel Sharon's stroke in early 2006 ), power is transferred to the Acting Prime Minister, until the prime minister recovers ( Ehud Olmert took over from Sharon ), for up to 100 days.

Despite stating that he would withdraw the party from the government unless Olmert resigned, Barak remained in government and took over as Defense Minister.

Therefore, the official declaration took effect on 14 April, formally ending Sharon's term as prime minister and making Olmert the country's new Interim Prime Minister in office ( he would not become the official prime minister until he formed a government ).

Olmert said that he took campaign contributions from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talansky when he was running for mayor of Jerusalem, leadership of the Likud and candidacy in the Likud list for the Knesset.

In 2010, it was cleared for publication the National Fraud Investigations Unit suspected Olmert of involvement in the " Holyland Affair ", where officials took bribes in exchange for promoting real estate projects, especially the Holyland real estate development project in southwest Jerusalem, which was allowed to grow 1, 200 % beyond the limit authorized.

As Mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert allegedly took thousands of shekels in bribe money from businessmen, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders.

On the political right, the Shas party took credit for pressuring Olmert to approve the project.

In January 2012, Olmert was indicted for taking bribes over the Holyland affair.

Ze ' evi sued Olmert for libel but lost the case.

In the immediate aftermath of Sharon's debilitating stroke there was speculation that Peres might take over as leader of the party but most senior Kadima leaders, however, were former members of Likud and indicated their support for Ehud Olmert as Sharon's successor.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez called the attack " genocidal ", and urged that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be tried for war crimes.

The preliminary Winograd report released earlier this year laid most of the blame on Olmert for poorly planning, executing, and reviewing war strategies in the 2006 conflict against Hezbollah.

Shimon Peres, serving as Vice Prime Minister in the cabinet of Ehud Olmert, apologized to the Ethiopian Jewish community for this policy.

For example, in 2006 when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a severe stroke, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert assumed power on the basis that he was " acting for " the incapacitated Sharon.

Olmert and Minister of Defense Amir Peretz were heavily criticized for their handling of the 2006 Lebanon War.

In 1966, during the Gahal party convention ( a predecessor to today's Likud ), party leader Menachem Begin was challenged by the young Olmert, who called for his resignation.

On 16 January 2006 Olmert was elected chairman of Kadima, and Kadima's candidate for prime minister in the upcoming election.

Olmert became prime minister and minister for welfare.

On 2 May 2007, the Winograd Commission accused Olmert of failing to properly manage the 2006 Lebanese War, which prompted a mass rally of over 100, 000 people calling for his resignation.

" If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights ( also for the Palestinians in the territories ), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished ", Olmert said on the last day of the Annapolis Conference.

" The Jewish organizations, which were our power base in America, will be the first to come out against us ", Olmert said, " because they will say they cannot support a state that does not support democracy and equal voting rights for all its residents ".

During at least two meetings, Olmert made a secret promise to Abbas: Once a prisoner exchange deal for captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was finalized with Hamas, Israel would bolster Abbas ' government by releasing Fatah prisoners.

Following the strike, Bush claimed to have suggested to Olmert to hide the strike for a while and then make it public as a way to isolate the Syrian regime, but Olmert asked for total secrecy, wanting to avoid anything that could force Syria to retaliate.

After Livni announced she could not form the new government, new parliamentary elections were set for 10 February 2009, and Olmert remained in power until after the elections, just as the law dictates.