Ehud Olmert is an Israeli politician and lawyer. He served as Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009, as a Cabinet Minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006, and as Mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003.
Background
Olmert, Ehud was born on September 30, 1945, in Binyamina. According to Olmert, his parents, Bella (Wagman) and Mordechai Olmert, escaped "persecution in Ukraine and Russia, and found sanctuary in Harbin, China. They emigrated to Israel to fulfill their dream of building a Jewish and democratic state living in peace in the land of our ancestors." His father later became a member of the Knesset for Herut. Olmert's childhood included membership in the Beitar Youth Organization and dealing with the fact that his parents were often blacklisted and alienated due to their affiliation with the Jewish militia group the Irgun.
Education
Olmert graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with degrees in psychology, philosophy, and law. He opened a successful law partnership in Jerusalem. Olmert served with the Israel Defense Forces in the Golani Brigade. While in service he was injured and temporarily released. He underwent many treatments and later completed his military duties as a journalist for the IDF magazine BaMahane.
Career
In 1993 Olmert left national politics and was elected mayor of Jerusalem, defeating six-time incumbent Teddy Kollek; he was reelected in 1998. In 2003 Olmert was recalled to national politics by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who appointed him vice prime minister and minister of trade and industry. Olmert became one of Sharon’s closest political advisers and was a chief architect of Sharon’s policy of withdrawing from some of the Israeli-held territory in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and forcibly removing Jewish settlers there.
In January 2006, after Sharon was debilitated by a massive stroke, Olmert became acting prime minister. In March 2006 he led to victory Kadima—the centrist party Sharon had established in 2005 by breaking away from the Likud—and was subsequently confirmed as prime minister after forming a coalition government. Olmert promised to continue Sharon’s policies of disengagement from Israeli-occupied areas and of setting permanent borders between Israel and the Palestinians by 2010. However, Ḥamās’s unexpected victory in the Palestinian elections in 2006 and its takeover of the Gaza Strip the following year brought new uncertainty to Israeli-Palestinian relations.
Following the abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah in July 2006, Olmert initiated a massive military operation into southern Lebanon in an effort to secure the soldiers’ release and deliver a decisive blow to the Shīʿite militant group based there. The inconclusive 34-day war—in which Israel failed to free its soldiers or eradicate Hezbollah and in which more than 1,000 Lebanese and more than 150 Israelis were killed—drew both domestic and international reproach. Although the final report issued in January 2008 by the Winograd Commission (a body of inquiry convened to investigate the conduct of the July 2006 campaign) was highly critical of the upper echelons of Israeli political and military leadership, its appraisal of Olmert in particular was not as harsh as some had anticipated.
Olmert’s weakened public standing was further damaged by allegations of corruption, the most high-profile of which alleged that before his tenure as prime minister he had accepted large sums of money from an American businessman. In the course of the subsequent inquiry, Olmert argued that the contributions were used to legally finance his election campaign, but he pledged to step down if charged. Calls for his resignation mounted as the inquiry progressed, and in July 2008 Olmert announced that he would step down after party elections scheduled for the fall of that year. In the September election, one of Olmert’s rivals, Tzipi Livni, emerged as the leader of Kadima; as promised, Olmert formally resigned, although he remained leader of an interim government until a new prime minister could be selected. He was succeeded by Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud on March 31, 2009, and, after a lengthy investigation, Olmert was formally indicted in August on three counts of corruption. The trial began later that year, and in July 2012 he was acquitted on the two central charges but was found guilty of breach of trust, a lesser charge. He received a suspended one-year prison sentence in September 2012.
In January 2012 he was also indicted for allegedly taking bribes to advance construction projects, notably an apartment complex called Holyland, when he was mayor of Jerusalem. He was convicted in 2014 and sentenced to six years in prison. The sentence was later reduced to 18 months.
In May 2008, Israel opened Turkish-brokered indirect peace talks with Syria. Olmert stated that the resumption of peace talks with Syria was a national obligation that must be tried. However, Syria broke off the talks several months later in response to the Gaza War.
Rocket and mortar attacks by Palestinian terrorists from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on Israel occurred frequently throughout the spring and summer of 2008, until a ceasefire was agreed between Hamas and Israel in June. Rocket attacks increased sharply in November after an Israeli raid on an Hamas-built smuggling tunnel. The ceasefire expired in December 2008 and negotiations stalled between the two parties to renew the ceasefire. On 24 December, the Negev was hit by more than 60 mortar shells and Katyusha and Qassam rockets, and the IDF was given a green light to operate. Hamas claimed to have fired a total of 87 rockets and mortar rounds that day at Israel, code-naming the firing "Operation Oil Stain".
On 25 December 2008, Olmert delivered a "last minute" warning to Gaza in direct appeal to Gaza's people via the Arabic language satellite channel al-Arabiya, to pressure their leaders to stop the rocket barrages. "I am telling them now, it may be the last minute, I'm telling them stop it. We are stronger", he said. The attacks did not stop and Israel launched its military operation, codenamed Operation Cast Lead , on the morning of 27 December, when more than 50 fighter jets and attack helicopters began to bomb strategic targets. Air and naval strikes continued for days, when on 3 January 2009 the IDF began a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. The fighting lasted 22 days until a ceasefire came into effect. Israel subsequently withdrew from Gaza.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on 8 January 2009 calling for an immediate ceasefire to the hostilities in the Gaza Strip. It passed 14–0–1, with one abstention from the United States. Olmert told reporters, "U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was left shamed. A resolution that she prepared and arranged, and in the end she did not vote in favor. In the night between Thursday and Friday, when the Secretary of State wanted to lead the vote on a ceasefire at the Security Council, we did not want her to vote in favor. I said 'get me President Bush on the phone'. They said he was in the middle of giving a speech in Philadelphia. I said I didn't care. 'I need to talk to him now'. He got off the podium and spoke to me. I told him the United States could not vote in favor. It cannot vote in favor of such a resolution. He immediately called the Secretary of State and told her not to vote in favor." When asked about the comments, a White House spokesman said that Olmert's version of events was "inaccurate".
The war finally ended on 18 January 2009. A day before, Israeli officials announced a unilateral ceasefire, without an agreement with Hamas. In a press conference, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert declared the ceasefire effective that night, at 00:00 GMT on 18 January.
Views
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Olmert was subjected to a string of corruption allegations that resulted in multiple police investigations. According to Israeli journalist Yossi Melman, the repeated investigations led some to believe that Olmert was corrupt but a master at covering his tracks, while others believed that the authorities were simply obsessed with harassing him.
On 7 March 2006, it was disclosed that an inquiry was being carried out on the 1999 sale and lease-back of a Jerusalem property purchased by Olmert in 2004, which allegedly was done on financial terms very favorable to Olmert, in what would amount to an illegal campaign contribution and/or bribe. Olmert was alleged to have paid $325,000 below market value. A criminal investigation regarding the matter was formally launched on 24 September 2007. The investigation closed in August 2009 due to lack of evidence.
On 16 January 2007, a criminal investigation was initiated against Olmert. The investigation focused on suspicions that during his tenure as finance minister, Olmert tried to steer the tender for the sale of Bank Leumi in order to help Slovak -born Australian real estate baron Frank Lowy, a close personal associate. Israeli Finance Ministry Accountant General Dr. Yaron Zelekha was as a key witness, according to the State Comptroller's office. The state comptroller testified against Olmert. Israeli Police who investigated the case eventually concluded that the evidence that was collected was insufficient for indictment, and no recommendations were made to press charges. In October 2007, he was questioned for five hours by three officers from the National Fraud Investigations Unit in his Jerusalem residence. State Prosecutor Moshe Lador closed the case in December 2008 due to lack of evidence.
In April 2007, it was further alleged that, during his office as Minister of Trade, Industry and Labor, Olmert may have been guilty of criminal behavior by taking an active part in an investment center. Prosecutors said that Olmert placed himself in a conflict of interest by personally dealing with issues involving business figures represented by his friend and former business partner, lawyer Uri Messer. Olmert was alleged to have changed some decisions made by his ministry in their favor. During a parliamentary inquest in July 2007, Olmert flatly denied these accusations.
In October 2007, Attorney General Mazuz ordered a police investigation into allegations that Olmert, when he held the positions of trade minister, communications minister and finance minister, had improperly appointed associates from the Likud party to posts on government bodies. Police completed their investigation in 2009, and concluded that there was a basis to indict Olmert and others for fraud and breach of trust.
In July 2008, Haaretz reported 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. In March 2003, State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg asked Olmert to submit the wealth-declaration statement required of all cabinet ministers. Olmert disclosed that he had taken a loan from Almaliah, but did not say when it was due. In 2004, Olmert conceded that he had taken $75,000, and stressed that Almaliah had not asked for repayment of the loan. At Goldberg's insistence, Olmert signed a contract with Almaliah undertaking to repay the loan in January 2009. According to an indictment, Olmert had actually taken another $100,000 from Almaliah, which was deposited into his personal bank account. The State Prosecutor's office said that it was not aware of Olmert's repayment of either loan.
Quotations:
"I take the offer of full normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab world seriously; and I am ready to discuss the Arab peace initiative in an open and sincere manner. Working with our Jordanian and Egyptian partners, and hopefully other Arab states, we must pursue a comprehensive peace with energy and vision.... But the talks must be a discussion, not an ultimatum."
"We've said that if there is rocket fire against the south of the country, there will be a severe and disproportionate Israeli response to the fire on the citizens of Israel and its security forces."
Membership
Between 1981 and 1989, he served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and served on the Finance, Education and Defense Budget Committees.
Between 1993 and 2003, Olmert served two terms as mayor of Jerusalem, the first member of Likud or its precursors to hold the position.
Olmert was elected as a member of the sixteenth Knesset in January 2003. He served as the head of the election campaign for Likud in the elections, and subsequently was the chief negotiator of the coalition agreement.
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
1981 - 1989
Personality
In October 2007, Olmert announced that he had prostate cancer. His doctors declared it to be a minor risk. In April 2009, Olmert's spokesman issued a statement indicating that Olmert's cancer had deteriorated.
Connections
Olmert's wife, Aliza, is a writer of novels and theater plays, as well as an artist. Aliza is more left-leaning in her politics than her husband. She claimed to have voted for him for the first time in 2006.
The couple has four biological children and an adopted daughter.