Jerusalem, Mar. 2 : Israel's Attorney General announced Sunday that he intends to indict departing prime minister Ehud Olmert in a corruption case involving a Long Island businessman, Morris Talansky.

According to a statement from the Justice Ministry, Olmert will be granted a judicial hearing before a final decision is made.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said he is considering criminal charges against Olmert including fraud, breach of trust and receiving illicit funds.

Jerusalem - Outgoing Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert suspended a top defence ministry official from negotiating with Egyptian mediators on a truce with militants in the Gaza Strip and the return of an Israeli soldier held captive in the salient for two-and-a-half years.

Israel Radio quoted unnamed "high-ranking figures in the Prime Minister's Office" as saying Monday that the talks with Egypt would now be conducted by Olmert's office, and Amos Gilad would no longer be the envoy.

Jerusalem  - Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Sunday on his designated successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, to form a new government "fast" and said those negotiating the new coalition should do so "quickly and efficiently."

Israeli media sites quoted Olmert as telling ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem that "until the formation of a new government, the current Israeli government will continue to run the state's affairs without relinquishing one gram of responsibility."

Jerusalem  - Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert was to convene the security cabinet Wednesday to discuss a proposal whereby any truce in the Gaza Strip would be conditioned on the release of an Israeli soldier held in the salient for the past two and a half years.

The militant groups in the Strip were demanding that as part of any truce, Israel open the crossing points into the salient and end its blockade of the enclave.

Tel Aviv/Gaza  - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Saturday that his government will not agree to any ceasefire arrangement with the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip unless captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is freed.

With the two sides appearing further apart on Saturday than in recent days, Hamas also accused Israel of rejecting any truce that had a time limit, as the Islamist organization that rules the Gaza Strip had previously offered.

Jerusalem  - With polls indicating that 20 per cent of voters are still undecided ahead of Tuesday's general elections, caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Sunday on Israelis to vote in order to "to realize their democratic right and obligation."

Addressing ministers at the last cabinet meeting before the elections, Olmert said that "it is important that there be a high turnout so that the government that will be elected knows it has the full legitimacy, from a decisive majority of the residents of the state, to decide on the most important issues affecting our future."

"Voting in general elections is the essence of democracy. Here everything starts with voting," he said, according to a government communique.