奥尔默特政治处境艰难但拒绝辞职

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The noose may be tightening around Israel's embattled prime minister in a corruption scandal, but he is pressing on.

身陷腐败丑闻的以色列总理奥尔默特的处境可能越来越艰难了，但是他仍然没有退意。

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is brushing off demands to resign after an American Jewish businessman said he gave him envelopes stuffed with cash to support a lavish lifestyle. Prosecutors suspect money laundering and bribery; but Mr. Olmert said he is innocent until proven guilty, and like other scandals that have dogged him, nothing would come of it.

以色列总理奥尔默特拒绝那些要他辞职的要求。在这之前，一名美国犹太商人说，他曾经交给奥尔默特许多装满现金的信封，用于维持奥尔默特奢侈的生活方式。以色列检察官怀疑这是在洗钱和贿赂，但是奥尔默特说，在证实他有罪之前，他是无辜的。他说，就像针对他的其它丑闻一样，这件丑闻也不会证明他有罪。

Mr. Olmert's grip on power was put in doubt on Wednesday, when his defense minister, Ehud Barak, demanded that he step down over the corruption allegations. Barak threatened to pull his Labor Party out of the coalition government and force early elections if the Prime Minister does not comply.

以色列国防部长巴拉克星期三要求奥尔默特因腐败指控而辞职，这使奥尔默特对权力的控制受到质疑。巴拉克威胁说，如果奥尔默特不下台，他领导的工党就会退出联合政府，迫使提前选举。

But while Mr. Olmert may be down he is not out, says Jerusalem Post editor David Horovitz.

但是，以色列的耶路撒冷邮报编辑霍罗维茨说，奥尔默特可能已经倒在地上，但是还没有失败。

"He is a political fighter, and he is going to fight through this," Horovitz said. "Every day that he staves off the immediate threat will be a victory, and knowing Olmert as we do, this is what he is going to try to do."

他说：“他是个政治斗士，他会斗争到底。他能每天挡住对他的直接威胁就是一次胜利，正如我们所了解的一样，奥尔默特就是要争取这么做。”

While the corruption scandal is embarrassing and damaging, it is still not clear whether Mr. Olmert broke the law.

虽然这次腐败丑闻令人尴尬，有损名声，但是目前还不清楚奥尔默特是否触犯了法律。

"We have to think about first of all, 'Is it a criminal offense, is it against the law on the books or is it not?' And [despite] the circus we've seen in the media, it's a little early to indict him," attorney Haim Katz said.

律师卡茨说：“我们首先必须考虑，这是刑事犯罪吗？触犯了法律没有？尽管媒体进行了大量报导，但是现在起诉奥尔默特还为时过早。”

Mr. Olmert says that if indicted he will resign. But a possible indictment is still months away, and until then, the Prime Minister appears determined to hang on to his job.

奥尔默特说，如果他被起诉，他会辞职。但是，即使奥尔默特受到起诉，也将是几个月以后的事情。在受到起诉之前，看来奥尔默特决心继续担任总理。