Israeli police air new allegations against premier

The latest revelations came just after police grilled Olmert for a third time in a widening corruption probe--and made it even harder for him to hold on to his job and carry out peace talks with the Palestinians and Syria.

Police said Olmert is suspected of obtaining $100,000 before he became prime minister by getting multiple sources--among them state and public organizations including charities--to pay for identical trips abroad so he could pocket the difference.

The allegations were the most damaging for Olmert since police accused him in May of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash-stuffed envelopes from an American entrepreneur when he was a Cabinet minister and mayor of Jerusalem.

Olmert served as Jerusalem mayor for 10 years until 2003, when he was appointed trade minister in former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government. He held that position until he became prime minister in 2006 after Sharon suffered a devastating stroke.

Police said Friday they were widening their investigation of Olmert to include the funding of his trips abroad.

He has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Yet even before the latest accusations, Israeli pundits and media were nearly unanimous in their assessment that the prime minister is on his way out.

"It's hard to fathom what Olmert is trying to achieve by postponing his dishonorable exit from public life when it's obvious to everyone else that his public career is over," said the lead editorial Friday in the newspaper Haaretz.

Olmert's lawyers are hoping their cross-examination next week of the key witness in the case--75-year-old American Jewish businessman Morris Talansky--will bolster the prime minister's fortunes.

In a stunning deposition in May, Talansky testified he handed Olmert hundreds of thousands of dollars in envelopes over the years and said some of the money went to pay for expensive cigars, hotels and other luxuries. Police suspect the cash was either for illegal campaign contributions or bribes.