Embattled Israeli PM gets boost from party

By Jeffrey Heller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Top party members closed ranks behind Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday, praising his response to bribery suspicions that could force him from office and disrupt peace efforts with the Palestinians.

Olmert pressed on with his duties, chairing the weekly cabinet meeting and shifting his public focus towards a visit this week by U.S. 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 called by Olmert with Kadima ministers in his cabinet, said: "Every citizen has the right to be considered innocent ... We must let him continue running the country."

Party sources said only Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Olmert's main party rival, made no comments at the meeting.

Denying taking bribes, Olmert said on Thursday he would quit if the attorney-general indicted him in an investigation into funds received from an American businessman.

The prime minister 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 violence on the Israel-Gaza border, referring to the "substantive matters of crucial strategic value" to Israel's future which he said he would discuss with the U.S. leader.