FACTBOX: Five facts about Israeli PM Ehud Olmert
(Reuters) - Ehud Olmert, who once described himself as "indestructible", came under pressure on Wednesday from Defense Minister Ehud Barak to step aside as prime minister.
Here are some facts about Olmert:
* Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas relaunched Israeli-Palestinian peace talks at a U.S.-backed conference last November after a seven-year hiatus and agreed to try to reach an agreement on Palestinian statehood by the end of this year. Last week, Olmert revealed that indirect talks with Syria, mediated by Turkey, were under way.
* Olmert served as mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003 and used the position to champion building Jewish enclaves in Arab parts of the city. He has acknowledged taking money from a New York-based financier to fund campaigns for city hall and later for internal elections in the right-wing Likud party. Olmert spent his mandatory military service as a reporter due to health problems, seeing combat only from afar. He entered parliament aged just 28 and, in his 30s, he briefly re-enlisted to undergo an officer's course. He also had a legal career.
* He joined former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in leaving Likud in 2005 to form the centrist Kadima party and became leader when Sharon was felled by a stroke in January 2006. Kadima won elections two months later. Olmert refused to resign after a scathing official report on the conduct of the 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
* As well as the latest investigation, Olmert is facing police probes in two other corruption affairs in which he denies wrongdoing. They relate to his conduct before becoming prime minister in 2006 and include accusations he dispensed favors in return for a discount on the 2004 purchase price of a Jerusalem home. He also faces allegations that as trade minister in 2003 he appointed cronies to a state business authority. Last November, police concluded there was insufficient evidence to pursue complaints against him over his role in the sale of state-owned Bank Leumi when serving as finance minister.
* A keen runner, sports fan and fitness fanatic, he is now 62. His approval ratings got a boost last October when he announced he had early-stage prostate cancer but would stay on in office. He plans to have surgery to remove the growth. Olmert and his artist wife Aliza have four children.
