Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, determined to show that he is running the government as usual despite calls that he step down, is planning to fly to Washington next week. He is scheduled to speak at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) convention and meet with American President George W. Bush.
 
He will leave behind a divided coalition, with many Knesset Members, including at least two from his own Kadima party, calling on him to leave office. "His leadership has been eroded. He is on borrowed time," Ephraim Inbar of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies said. Inbar was quoted in the New York Jewish Week.
 
Hebrew University Prof. Taphi Israeli told the newspaper that the Prime Minister is flying to Washington despite the political crisis because "he will do all he can to divert attention” from the corruption probe.