Embattled Israeli PM receives boost from his party

Top members of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's party closed ranks behind him today, praising his response to bribery suspicions that could force him from office and disrupt peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Olmert pressed on with his duties, chairing the weekly cabinet meeting and shifting his public focus towards a visit later in the week by US President George W. Bush to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary and promote peacemaking.

"It is absolutely clear that right now it is not possible to demand of (Olmert) more than he has already said - that he would resign the moment there is an indictment," said Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, a member of Olmert's Kadima party.

Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, speaking at a meeting Prime Minister Olmert convened with Kadima ministers in his cabinet, said: "Every citizen has the right to be considered innocent... We must let him continue running the country."

Kadima sources said only Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Prime Minister Olmert's main rival in the party, did not make any comments at the session.

Denying taking any bribes, Prime Minister Olmert said on Thursday he would quit if the attorney-general indicted him in an investigation of funds received from an American businessman. Police are still investigating and charges do not appear imminent.

The prime minister, who has pledged to pursue government business as usual, did not refer in remarks to the cabinet to the latest in a series of corruption allegations against him.

He focused instead on the Bush visit and ongoing violence on the Israel-Gaza border, citing what he called the "substantive matters of crucial strategic value" to Israel's future which he said he would discuss with the US leader.

In a speech yesterday, Prime Minister Olmert pledged not to relent in his efforts to "put an end to the bloody conflicts which have accompanied our life in this country since its establishment and beforehand".