Jerusalem- Israeli police arrived at the Jerusalem residence of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to question him Friday for a third time on suspicions that he illegally accepted tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of US dollars from a US fundraiser.

The police detectives are expected to confront the premier with new evidence, including statements by witnesses who said they were present in the hotel rooms when the fundraiser and businessman, Morris Talansky, handed cash envelopes to Olmert.

Talansky has turned against Olmert and become the key state witness in the case, giving his version of events in a pre-trial testimony to a Jerusalem court in late May.

Olmert - who during the 15-year-period over which he received the money served as mayor of Jerusalem and as a cabinet minister for the hardline Likud party - for his part is expected to try to discredit Talansky and expose alleged lies.

The questioning is expected to last for some two hours.

The affair broke in early May, when the premier was first questioned on the suspicions, and has since cast serious doubt on Olmert's political future.

His largest coalition partner, the Labour Party, has forced Olmert to agree to holding early primaries in his own, centrist Kadima, which the party decided this week to hold in mid-September.

Talansky has said he raised the money for ideological reasons, but that Olmert used much of it for private purposes, including a family vacation in Italy, upgrading flights from business to first class and covering hotel costs while on lobby trips in the US.

The Israeli premier has insisted he has used all of the money to retroactively cover debts from election campaigns.

Police are investigating whether a future quid-pro-quo was expected in return for the donations. The Israeli Ma'ariv daily on Thursday printed letters written by Olmert, among others to a top Las Vegas hotel owner, asking businessmen to consider the services of Talansky's company, Cooltech, which produces mini-bars for hotels.

Olmert's lawyers have reacted angrily to the constant leaking by law enforcement sources to the Israeli media.

They are scheduled to cross-examine Talansky on July 17. The premier hopes that cross-examination will create a positive shift for his image and reduce the pressure on him to step down.

He has nevertheless promised to resign if the police investigation materializes into an indictment against him. (dpa)