Israeli police seize documents in Olmert probe

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police said they raided the offices of a government ministry on Tuesday, confiscating documents as part of a bribery investigation that has put Prime Minister Ehud Olmert under pressure to resign.

Police had earlier questioned one American businessman in the affair. On Tuesday, a police source said they interviewed two others, including casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson, who was in Jerusalem as a sponsor of a conference hosted by Israel's president to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state, was not immediately available for comment.

U.S. President George W. Bush is to address the conference on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said fraud squad officers entered the industry, trade and labor ministry, which was headed by Olmert before he became premier in 2006. They took away documents "as part of the ongoing investigation", he said.

On Monday, officers had removed documents from Jerusalem city hall, where Olmert was mayor from 1993 to 2003.

Olmert admitted last week that he took cash from New York Jewish financier Morris Talansky but he has denied any wrongdoing. Olmert said he would resign if indicted.

The police source said that as part of the probe, Israeli investigators on Tuesday questioned Adelson and another American businessman with links to Israel, Daniel Abrahams.

Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corp. is a major casino, hotel and resort operator.

The Olmert investigation has cast a shadow over Bush's visit and could disrupt peace negotiations with the Palestinians, which Bush has sponsored over the past six months.

Olmert told the 60th anniversary conference that he was making progress in reaching "understandings" with the Palestinians, although Palestinian negotiators voiced skepticism when asked to comment on Olmert's remarks.

Legal sources say police suspect that Olmert took hundreds of thousands of dollars from Talansky over a decade.

Olmert said any funds from Talansky were contributions to his two campaigns for Jerusalem mayor in the 1990s and for posts in his former political party, Likud. He denied taking bribes.

Current Israeli law broadly prohibits political donations of more than a few hundred dollars.

An opinion poll in a major Israeli newspaper on Monday showed that a majority of Israelis want Olmert to resign or go on leave over the scandal and do not believe his denials.

Olmert, who once described himself as "indestructible", has survived several earlier corruption investigations.

(Reporting by Avida Landau and Ari Rabinovitch; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)