Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert became prime minister of Israel in 2006 and announced his intention to resign in September 2008. A longtime member of the conservative Likud party, Olmert joined Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the founding of a new centrist party, Kadima, late in 2005. When Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke on 4 January 2006, Olmert became Israel's acting prime minister. "Acting" was removed after Kadima won national elections in March of 2006 and Olmert was sworn in as PM on May 4th of that year. Olmert was first elected to the Knesset in 1973, at the young age of 28. His long career in government service included a decade as the mayor of Jerusalem, from 1993 through 2003. He joined Sharon's government as deputy prime minister in 2003 and later became minister of communications and finance. Olmert's two years as prime minister were rocky, and he was dogged by allegations of bribery and cronyism that ran back to his days as Jerusalem's mayor. Olmert announced in July of 2008 that he would resign his post as prime minister in September, once his party had elected a new leader. He confirmed his decision in September, after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was chosen as the party's new leader.

Extra credit: Olmert announced in October 2007 that he had prostate cancer. Olmert had surgery and remained in office... Olmert has degrees in psychology (1968) and law (1973) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem... In April of 2006 the Israeli cabinet declared Sharon "permanently incapacitated," moving Olmert from acting prime minister to prime minister -- although by that time, he had already been made prime minister-elect by Kadima's victory in the March elections.