Israel's embattled Olmert heads to United States

The three-day visit may offer the embattled premier a brief respite from the turmoil at home where he faces a crescendo of calls for his resignation over suspicions he unlawfully obtained vast sums of money from a US financier.

But Monday’s trip may well be his last as premier to Israel’s staunchest ally.

Olmert, 62, suffered two massive blows in quick succession this week when key coalition ally Defense Minister Ehud Barak demanded he quit and the cabinet number two, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, challenged his party leadership.

With the prospect of early elections growing daily, Olmert’s working visit is seen by many as his farewell from US President George W. Bush, whose hopes of seeing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year appear to be fading fast.

For Bush, who called Olmert an "honest man" when news of the graft allegations emerged in early May, the premier’s potential demise threatens to shatter a major pillar of a Middle East strategy he hoped would be his legacy.

Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas pledged to try to reach a deal before Bush leaves the White House in January 2009 at the launching of the new peace talks at in Annapolis, Maryland last November.

Despite heavy US pressure and regular meetings between Olmert and Abbas as well as the negotiating teams, the talks have since failed to yield tangible progress.

"It is obvious that there is no chance of reaching any agreement this year because Olmert is going. All the talks will be literally frozen for nearly a year," one senior Israeli official said on condition of anonymity.

A senior US official insisted that the talks, on Middle East peace efforts and Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, would not be affected by Olmert’s domestic troubles.

"We are aware of the domestic political situation, but in terms of the foreign policy we are pursuing, the peace process remains as is," he told AFP.
Olmert’s aides insist that it is business as usual in his office.

"The prime minister is focused on his agenda. He firmly believes that he will be exonerated as the investigation moves forward," a senior official said.

Other than the Palestinian track, Olmert will brief Bush on the indirect Turkish-mediated peace talks with Syria, announced in May after an eight-year freeze in talks between the neighbors.

The move raised eyebrows in the US administration, which has sought to isolate Syria for what Washington sees as meddling by Damascus in Lebanon’s affairs and its support for terror groups and insurgents in Iraq.

The United States is also concerned that the move could distract from the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Washington was also said to have information on secret nuclear sites in Syria, where Israeli jets destroyed a suspected reactor last September.

"It is Israel’s decision to engage in talks with Syria. We wish them success if they could lead to significant change... Were not involved in them in any way," a US official said. "We continue to believe that it shouldn’t detract from the primary focus, where we are in a much more advanced stage, in direct talks with the Palestinians."

Olmert was also expected to discuss a military aid package that Bush offered during his visit to Israel earlier in May honoring 60 years of independence.

The package, aimed at countering the Iranian threat, includes a missile early warning system and advanced stealth fighter jets, the US official said. It comes on top of a 30-billion-dollar defense package already pledged over the next 10 years.

In recent months Israel has intensified the development and acquisition of weapons systems in the face of Irans nuclear programme, which Israel says is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim Tehran denies.

Widely seen as the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, Israel considers Iran its chief enemy after repeated statements from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.

During his visit, Olmert is also expected to meet US presidential hopefuls, a senior Israeli government official said.