Israeli police said on Sunday they wanted Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to face criminal charges in a corruption scandal that has driven him from office during peace talks with Palestinians.
Issuing a non-binding recommendation, police said they had evidence showing that Olmert illegally received money from a US businessman and made duplicate claims for travel expenses when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and trade and industry minister.
He has denied any wrongdoing in a series of investigations.
A police document said the recommendation included charges of bribery, fraud, money laundering and breach of public trust over funds that “reached hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
With Olmert committed to resigning after his Kadima party holds a leadership vote next Wednesday, the recommendation will have no immediate impact on his tenure and does not guarantee an indictment will be filed by Israel’s attorney-general.
Olmert’s lawyers called the police recommendation “meaningless” because only the attorney-general can decide whether or not to indict a prime minister.
Olmert, who has vowed to pursue US-backed peace talks with Palestinians, could stay in office for weeks or months while his successor tries to form a new government coalition.
On Sunday Olmert failed to convince his Cabinet to discuss a plan to compensate Jewish settlers who agree to relocate from the occupied West Bank to Israel as part of a future peace agreement with Palestinians.
The presence of more than 260,000 settlers in the West Bank is seen as one of the main hurdles in the peace negotiations, which have made little progress since they were relaunched at a US-hosted conference in November.
While a final decision is not expected for weeks or even months, Israeli media has been almost unanimous in declaring that the police move marks the end of the Olmert era.
“Olmert is a dead horse. Occasionally, he still kicks but his kicks are weak,” the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper said in an editorial.
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