Olmert to have cancer surgery

Ehud Olmert, Israel's Prime Minister, announced yesterday that he was suffering from prostate cancer, but stressed that his condition was not life-threatening, required only minor surgery and that he would continue to work.

His two doctors said the tumor, detected in a routine check-up earlier this month, was "microscopic", had been discovered at an early stage and was not spreading. The 62-year-old Prime Minister would require neither radiation nor chemotherapy.

Mr Olmert said he had decided to make a "full and frank disclosure" soon after receiving the biopsy results. The public, he maintained, had a right to know. Such openness has not always been the norm in Israel. At least two previous Prime Ministers, Golda Meir and Menachem Begin, kept more serious illnesses to themselves.

"I will be able to fulfill my duties fully before my treatment and hours afterwards," Mr Olmert insisted. "My doctors told me that I had full chances of recovery." If he is incapacitated, for however short a time, his deputy, Tzipi Livni, would take over.

The two doctors, Shlomo Segev and Kobi Ramon, emphasised that there was no need for immediate surgery. The operation, which will probably be under local anaesthetic, is expected to take place after the Middle East peace conference President George Bush is convening in Annapolis, Maryland, in late November or early December.

Sa'eb Erakat, a senior Palestinian negotiator, wished Mr Olmert a speedy recovery. "We hope to continue working with him towards achieving a two-state solution and ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967."

Dr Ramon said that a delay of several months would pose no risks and that surgery should eliminate the cancer completely. Patients were normally kept in hospital for three days, and then sent home to recuperate. During that time they could work. He added that Mr Olmert's chances of survival for the next 10 years were 100 per cent and that the chances for cancer-free survival afterwards were 95 per cent.

Mr Olmert, a physical fitness enthusiast, exercises every day. He came to office after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, suffered a devastating stroke in January 2006. Mr Sharon, who has never regained consciousness, is being kept alive on a respirator in a Tel-Aviv hospital.