News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faces a politically quieter time if he can survive until August 3, when the Knesset recesses for the summer and does not return until October 26, after Rosh HaShanah and the attendant major Jewish holidays. His next major hurdle is his lawyers' cross-examination of American businessman Morris Talansky on July 17. However, the court can change the date. Talansky previously has testified that he forwarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Olmert has said he will step down from office if he is indicted, but Attorney General Menachem Mazuz cannot begin to consider the case until the cross-examination is completed.