Ehud Olmert served as the 12th Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009 and before that as a cabinet minister from 1988 to 1992 and from 2003 to 2006.
63 Facts About Ehud Olmert
2.
Ehud Olmert was born near Binyamina in the British Mandate of Palestine.
3.
Ehud 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.
4.
Ehud Olmert graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with degrees in psychology, philosophy and law.
5.
Ehud Olmert served with the Israel Defense Forces in the Golani Brigade.
6.
Ehud Olmert underwent many treatments, and later completed his military duties as a journalist for the IDF magazine BaMahane.
7.
Ehud Olmert is married to Aliza, an author, playwright and artist.
8.
Ehud Olmert is a lesbian and lives with her partner in Tel Aviv.
9.
In 2004, Ehud Olmert visited China and paid his respects at the tomb of his grandfather in Harbin.
10.
Ehud 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.
11.
In 1966, during the Gahal party convention, party leader Menachem Begin was challenged by the young Ehud Olmert, who called for his resignation.
12.
Ehud Olmert was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 at the age of 28, and was re-elected seven consecutive times.
13.
Ehud Olmert served as minister without portfolio, responsible for minority affairs between 1988 and 1990, and as minister of health from 1990 until 1992.
14.
Between 1993 and 2003, Ehud Olmert served two terms as mayor of Jerusalem, the first member of Likud or its precursors to hold the position.
15.
Ehud Olmert spearheaded the development of the light rail system in Jerusalem, and the investment of millions of shekels in the development of mass transportation options for the city.
16.
Ehud Olmert ran unsuccessfully in the September 1999 Likud leadership election.
17.
Ehud Olmert was elected as a member of the sixteenth Knesset in January 2003.
18.
Ehud Olmert served as the head of the election campaign for Likud in the elections, and subsequently was the chief negotiator of the coalition agreement.
19.
On 7 August 2005, Ehud Olmert was appointed acting finance minister, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu, who had resigned in protest against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
20.
Ehud Olmert, who had originally opposed withdrawing from land captured in the Six-Day War, and who had voted against the Camp David Peace Accords in 1978, was a vocal supporter of the Gaza pullout.
21.
When Sharon announced he was leaving Likud to form a new party, Kadima, Ehud Olmert was one of the first to join him.
22.
On 4 January 2006, as the designated Acting Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert became Acting Prime Minister as a result of the serious stroke suffered by then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
23.
On 16 January 2006, Ehud Olmert was elected chairman of Kadima, and Kadima's candidate for prime minister in the upcoming election.
24.
Ehud Olmert had an initial period of 28 days to form a governing coalition, with a possible two-week extension.
25.
On 4 May 2006, Ehud Olmert presented his new government to the Knesset.
26.
Ehud Olmert took over as acting prime minister of Israel after Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke.
27.
On 24 May 2006, Ehud Olmert was invited to address a joint session of the US Congress.
28.
Ehud Olmert stated that his government would proceed with the disengagement plan if it could not come to agreement with the Palestinians.
29.
Ehud Olmert was the third Israeli prime minister to have been invited to speak at a joint session of Congress.
30.
On 9 December 2006, Ehud 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.
31.
Ehud Olmert called Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated threats to destroy Israel "absolutely criminal", and said that he expected "more dramatic steps to be taken".
32.
On 2 May 2007, the Winograd Commission accused Ehud Olmert of failing to properly manage the 2006 Lebanese War, which prompted a mass rally of over 100,000 people calling for his resignation.
33.
Ehud Olmert welcomed the Arab League's 2007 re-endorsement of the Arab Peace Initiative.
34.
Ehud Olmert wrote in The Guardian newspaper that Israel was ready to make "painful concessions" to achieve peace with the Palestinians.
35.
President Bush wrote in his memoirs that the talks broke down when Ehud Olmert announced that he would resign from office, and Abbas then broke off the talks and refused to finalize an agreement on the grounds that he did not want to sign a peace deal with a Prime Minister on his way out of office.
36.
President Bush wrote in his memoirs that Ehud Olmert had first asked him to bomb the facility, but ordered the attack after Bush refused and told him that he would prefer diplomatic action and sanctions.
37.
Ehud Olmert stated that the resumption of peace talks with Syria was a national obligation that must be tried.
38.
On 25 December 2008, Ehud 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.
39.
Ehud Olmert immediately called the Secretary of State and told her not to vote in favor.
40.
On 30 July 2008, Ehud 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.
41.
Ehud Olmert was alleged to have paid $325,000 below market value.
42.
On 16 January 2007, a criminal investigation was initiated against Ehud Olmert on suspicion that during his tenure as finance minister, he 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.
43.
Prosecutors said that Ehud 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.
44.
Ehud Olmert was alleged to have changed some decisions made by his ministry in their favor.
45.
In July 2008, Haaretz reported that in 1992, Ehud Olmert took a loan from US businessman Joe Almaliah but never repaid it and concealed the size of the loan from the State Comptroller.
46.
In March 2003, State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg asked Ehud Olmert to submit the wealth-declaration statement required of all cabinet ministers.
47.
Ehud Olmert disclosed that he had taken a loan from Almaliah, but did not say when it was due.
48.
In 2004, Ehud Olmert conceded that he had taken $75,000, and stressed that Almaliah had not asked for repayment of the loan.
49.
At Goldberg's insistence, Ehud Olmert signed a contract with Almaliah undertaking to repay the loan in January 2009.
50.
In May 2008, Ehud Olmert was the subject of another police investigation on allegations of bribery.
51.
The prosecution claimed that Ehud Olmert used his official capacity as minister of trade and industry to facilitate introductions with hotel managers for Talansky, a partner in a firm providing mini-bars for hotels.
52.
The charge sheet said that Ehud Olmert was aware he was in an "acute conflict of interest".
53.
The scheme allegedly worked as follows: Ehud Olmert would speak abroad on behalf of groups such as the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, a support group for the Israel Defense Forces or a charity for mentally disabled Israeli children.
54.
On 30 August 2009, an indictment against Ehud Olmert was served at the Jerusalem District Court.
55.
In January 2012, Ehud Olmert was indicted for taking bribes over the Holyland affair.
56.
On 10 July 2012, Ehud Olmert was convicted on one count of breach of trust over the investment center case, but exonerated over the Talansky and Rishon Tours affairs.
57.
In September 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that Ehud Olmert could stay out of prison pending an appeal.
58.
Ehud Olmert began serving a 19-months sentence on 15 February 2016 in Maasiyahu Prison.
59.
In December 2014, Zaken again provided new evidence, revealing that Ehud Olmert had offered her $10,000 for every month she would serve in jail for taking the blame in the Holyland case, to be paid in a foreign bank account.
60.
In March 2015, Ehud Olmert was convicted in Jerusalem District Court of fraud, breach of trust, and tax evasion in his retrial on corruption charges over the Talansky case.
61.
Ehud Olmert filed an appeal of his conviction to the Supreme Court of Israel in July 2015; the court agreed that Ehud Olmert's sentence would be suspended until after the outcome of the appeal.
62.
In 2009, Ehud Olmert spoke at various colleges throughout the United States to mixed receptions.
63.
In 2012, Ehud Olmert expressed opposition to a military strike on Iran.