An Israeli investigation into fraud and corruption has turned a spotlight on how Ehud Olmert, when mayor of Jerusalem, raised funds from rich American Jews.
Less in view have been fruitful financial ties Olmert enjoyed with evangelical Christians in the United States, a relationship that became strained after the prime minister launched talks with Palestinians that could return parts of Jerusalem to Arab rule.
The police inquiry has focused on allegations that Olmert took cash stuffed in envelopes from Jewish financier Morris Talansky, whom Olmert's lawyers will cross-examine on Thursday.
Investigators do not suggest any wrongdoing in Olmert's dealings with churches and other groups which, according to US and Israeli records reviewed by Reuters, channelled millions to a charitable foundation he headed while Jerusalem mayor.
But the probe of "campaign donations" in cash from Talansky - who served as treasurer of the US arm of that foundation - has drawn attention to how Olmert won and lost Christian support when he opened the door to splitting Jerusalem after campaigning against its division during his 10 years as mayor to 2003.
Olmert raised about $70,000 for the New Jerusalem Foundation at a single Christian fundraiser in Dallas in 2002. But this year, the evangelical leader who helped organise that event voiced "outrage" at Olmert's starting talks about sharing the city with the Palestinians as part of the US-backed Annapolis process. He vowed to "do everything in my power" to prevent it.
Many in the evangelical movement who helped elect President George W Bush believe Bible prophesies foretold the creation of the Israeli state and the Jewish capture of Jerusalem's holy sites as part of a countdown to the end of the world that will include the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Jesus.
Bush himself is a born-again Christian who told Israel's parliament in May the Jews were God's "chosen people". But he has also thrown his weight in his last year in office behind a Palestinian state whose leaders want a capital in Jerusalem.
Before becoming premier in 2006, Olmert raised large sums from Christians who heard him vow to retain Jewish control over all of the city at the heart of both religions - a condition, some believe, for bringing about their biblical vision of world peace, when "they shall beat their swords into ploughshares".
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"Olmert...identified the huge potential in Christian support for Israel and he sought to tap into it," said David Parsons of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), which promotes cooperation between evangelicals and Israel.
But Olmert angered erstwhile backers when, with Bush, he relaunched talks with the Palestinians at Annapolis in November.
Those talks are at risk if Olmert quits, which he says he will do if indicted. He denies wrongdoing and aides lay blame for his troubles on unspecified opponents of the peace negotiations.
