EON

Jerusalem — In a dramatic announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that he has prostate cancer, but doctors said he was still fit enough to attend a crucial parley on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, slated for next month.

The doctors had found only “first signs” of the cancer, and he would not be stepping down from office, Olmert told a surprise news conference, broadcast live on Israeli television and radio stations.

“According to what my doctors told me, it’s a microscopic growth without metastasis, which can be removed in a brief surgical procedure,” he said.

“I will be fit to fulfil my job to the fullest, before the treatment, and already in the hours afterward,” he added.

Olmert, 62, a keen runner whose health is considered good, said the cancer was discovered as part of a routine annual test he has undergone for the past years. He had one on his return from Russia ten days ago and the results were handed to him toward the weekend, he said.

Olmert’s doctors, who spoke after the premier had left the room without answering any questions, said Olmert’s condition was “curable.”

“The growth was discovered early. This is a growth that spreads very slowly and therefore does not endanger life. It was discovered at a stage in which it can be cured,” the doctors added.

They said Olmert was appraised of the difference types of treatment and “as of now, on the recommendations of his doctors, is leaning toward undergoing surgery.”

An operation could be performed either with a full anaesthetic, in which case the prime minister would have to take a temporary leave of absence from his post, or it could be done under local anaesthetic, they said, adding that the decision would be made closer to the operation.

Dr Shlomo Segev, one of the two doctors present, said the date of the surgery would be determined in such a way as to not affect Olmert’s travelling to the international conference on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

Olmert’s office said the surgery would take place after the summit, which is slated to be held in Annapolis, Maryland, at the end of November.

Preparations for the conference are in full swing, and Olmert has been holding regular meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to frame an outline for peace making, to be presented in Annapolis.

Riad Malki, a Palestinian government spokesman, said Olmert and Abbas would continue to hold their meetings.

“I believe that Olmert’s health will not impact on preparations for the fall meeting. On the contrary, it should give it a boost, in order to get on with the conference as soon as possible,” he said.

The prostate is a small gland surrounding the urinary passage at the exit of the male bladder, and prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men, with the risk of getting it increasing with age and according to family history of the disease.

According to the Israel Cancer Association, 2,250 Israelis are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and 380 die from it.

In most men, however, the cancer develops so slowly that it is non-fatal.

Olmert’s doctors said the chances of the premier living a disease- free life after treatment were 95 per cent.

Only one Israeli prime minister - Levi Eshkol, felled by a heart attack in 1969 - has died in office. But others have suffered from health problems while premier, notably Menahem Begin, who had a heart attack shortly after winning power in 1977, and another one in 1980.

Olmert himself came to the premiership after his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, was struck down by a massive stroke in January 2006. Sharon is still in a coma.

Sharon’s illness, and cosmetic surgery Olmert had in January, which was disclosed only afterwards, have prompted a debate in Israel about initiating a law requiring politicians to be completely open and transparent about their health.

Olmert, at the end of his brief remarks Monday, said he was admitting his condition because “the citizens of Israel have the right to know, and I feel that I have the public duty to inform them.”