Ehud Olmert

Biography

Ehud Olmert was born on 30 September 1945, the son of a former Herut politician. He studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and trained as a lawyer. In 1973, aged 28, he was elected to the Knesset for Likud, and he later served as minister without portfolio from 1988 to 1990 and as Minister of Health from 1990 to 1992.

In 1993 he was elected mayor of Jerusalem and served two terms. He returned to national politics in 2003 as deputy prime minister and minister of industry, trade and labour, and also held the communications portfolio. In 2005 he became acting finance minister after Benjamin Netanyahu resigned, and late that year he left Likud with Ariel Sharon to found Kadima.

When Sharon suffered a disabling stroke in January 2006, Olmert became acting prime minister and then Kadima leader, and he formed a government after the March 2006 election. His term included the 2006 Lebanon War, whose handling was sharply criticised by the Winograd Commission, and peace talks with the Palestinians, among them the 2007 Annapolis Conference.

Facing low approval and a corruption investigation, Olmert announced his resignation in 2008 and left office in March 2009. In 2014 he was sentenced to six years in prison for bribery and obstruction of justice relating to his time as mayor and as trade minister, and he was paroled in July 2017.