Clamor increases for Olmert resignation

JERUSALEM, May 28 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak joined a chorus of voices Wednesday demanding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's resignation in the wake of a bribery scandal.

New York businessman Morris Talansky testified in court Tuesday he began raising money for Olmert's bid to be Jerusalem's mayor in the 1990s.

"I said I would help him," Talansky testified. "I asked him why I couldn't just write him a check and he said it was because of the way the money was routed. So I gave him cash." Olmert said the funds went for his election campaign, though Talansky said it went to other luxuries.

Barak said in a news conference Wednesday that he lost faith in the ability of Olmert to run the government and his personal life at the same time, Ynetnews.com reported.

"The prime minister must detach himself from the daily management of the government" Barak said.

An informal survey conducted by Haaretz Tuesday indicated more than half of Olmert's colleagues in the Kadima party don't believe his claims and several ministers are demanding his resignation.

"Publicly, Olmert is finished," Haaretz editorializes. "There is no going back."