Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appeared determined Thursday to fight calls for his resignation over corruption allegations, with a spokesman saying the premier's schedule would "continue as usual."

Mark Regev said Olmert would not be cancelling an upcoming visit to the United States and would be travelling on Monday as planned.

The call for Olmert's resignation was made Wednesday by Defence Minister Ehud Barak, leader of the Labour Party, Olmert's largest coalition partner.

Addressing a news conference at the Knesset, Barak said Olmert had to detach himself from the premiership since he could not deal with the challenges facing the country, and at the same time deal with the corruption investigation against him.

The news conference came a day after US businessman and fundraiser Morris Talansky said, in a special pre-trial testimony, that he gave Olmert 150,000 dollars in cash over a 15 year period.

Olmert said the money was used for election expenses.

Talansky's testimony has not yet been been cross-examined by Olmert's lawyers, and no indictment has been filed against the premier. (dpa)