Israel's Olmert diagnosed with prostate cancer

updated 6:21 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2007

JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israelis on Monday that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but said the disease was not life-threatening and will not disrupt his work as the country’s leader.

The disclosure came at a sensitive time in Mideast diplomacy, with Olmert and another one-time prostate cancer patient — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas — struggling to bridge gaping differences ahead of a U.S.-brokered peace conference.

Speaking calmly before a packed hall of reporters, Olmert said the disease was caught early and that he would have surgery “over the next few months.” Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the surgery would be done after the conference.

“I will be able to carry out my duties fully before the treatment and within hours afterward,” Olmert said. “My doctors ... informed me that there is a full chance of recovery and there is nothing about the tumor that is life-threatening or liable to impair my performance or my ability to carry out the mission which has been bestowed upon me.”

“It is a matter of a microscopic growth, it hasn’t spread and can be removed by a short surgical procedure. According to the medical opinion, there will be no need for radiation treatment or chemotherapy,” Olmert said.

Israeli leaders traditionally kept information on their private lives and health from the public, but that changed abruptly when Olmert’s predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a stroke that left him comatose in January 2006. Many Israelis felt they should have been better informed about their leader’s ill health and that concern clearly contributed to Olmert’s swift and detailed announcement of his diagnosis.

The 62-year-old Olmert spoke for about three minutes before leaving the room and turning the podium over to his doctors.

U.S.: 'We wish him very well'
The news came just ahead of a U.S.-brokered summit designed to relaunch long-stalled peace talks. It was not clear how or if Olmert’s illness would affect his troubled efforts to frame a common outline with the Palestinians before the conference, scheduled to take place in Annapolis, Md., in November or December.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Olmert’s illness was not likely to delay the conference. “We wish him very well,” she said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called Olmert “to wish him a speedy recovery,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. He said he did not expect Olmert’s illness to affect Rice’s plans to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories beginning this weekend.

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union’s commissioner for external relations, said: “I’ve seen Prime Minister Olmert in the morning. I must say he was serene, he was joking, he was open and he was very much in control of himself,” she said. “Personally I don’t think that this will jeopardize the talks.”

'Nothing that showed fear'
One of Olmert’s doctors, Shlomo Segev, said the prime minister had a biopsy Oct. 19 and received the results Friday. He said the cancer showed up in only one of 12 samples taken from Olmert’s prostate.

When Olmert was informed of the results, “There was nothing that showed fear,” Segev said.

Another of his doctors, Yaacov Ramon, said treatment could wait several months without any risk, and that surgery should eliminate the cancer. The chances of full recovery are 95 percent, he said.

He said men who have the surgery are usually hospitalized for three days, followed by a recuperation period at home during which they can work. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was expected to take over if Olmert is incapacitated.

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Iran ends cooperation on nuke probe Israel to build new West Bank outpost Group: China world’s top executioner Obama visits Jerusalem's Western Wall Newsweek: Israeli envoy: Keep pressure on Iran Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: