Ehud Olmert

(1945- )

Ehud Olmert was born in Binyamina in 1945.

He served in the IDF as a combat infantry unit officer and was a military correspondent for the IDF journal Bamachane. A lawyer by profession, he holds B.A. and LL.B. degrees in Psychology, Philosophy and Law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Ehud Olmert has been a Knesset Member since 1973, and has served on the House, Constitution, Law & Justice Committee, State Control, Foreign Affairs & Defense, Finance, Education & Culture, and Internal Affairs & Environment Committees.

From 1988-1990 he served as Minister Without Portfolio responsible for minority affairs, and from 1990 until 1992 as Minister of Health.

In November 1993, Olmert was elected Mayor of Jerusalem, subsequently resigning from the Knesset in 1998. After his re-election to the Knesset in 2003, he resigned from his position in February 2003.

At that time, Ehud Olmert was appointed Minister of Industry and Trade, and Deputy Prime Minister. Olmert became an influential member of the Cabinet and was one of the first to advocate a withdrawal from Gaza, an idea that was ultimately endorsed by Prime Minister Sharon and which was carried out as the disengagement plan.

Following Ariel Sharon's decision to leave the Likud Party in November 2005, Olmert joined with Sharon and several other former Likud ministers to form the new centrist party, Kadima.

On January 4, 2006, Sharon suffered a massive stroke that left him unable to perform his dutires as prime minister. On January 5, Olmert was given acting prime ministerial duties to keep the government running effectively in Sharon's absence. Also on January 5, Olmert held his first cabinet meeting to signal the transfer of power. Olmert remained acting Prime Minister until the Israeli elections, which took place on March 28, 2006.

Following elections to the 17th Knesset as head of the Kadima party, Ehud Olmert became Prime Minister of the 31st Government of Israel. He also holds the Social Welfare portfolio.

He is married, with four children.