Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday defended his intervention on behalf of a factory represented by his friend and former business partner Ori Masar, stating that the intervention of a government minister on the part of industry is "part of the job."

In April, Attorney General Meni Mazuz recommended a criminal investigation be opened against Olmert due to his involvement in the factory's interests. The suspicions against him refer to his tenure as the Industry and Trade minister, when the tire manufacturing company "Silicut" was in negotiations with the Ministry of Industry and Trade over government benefits.

Olmert is suspected of exerting pressure on the government to have the factory's opening approved against the wishes of other officials in the ministry, shortly after the factory had secured the services of attorney Masar, a friend and former business partner of his.

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During a Knesset State Control Committee meeting, Olmert attacked a report compiled by the comptroller on the matter saying that it "has no resemblance to reality, since in every matter connected to the factory, the facts are fundamentally different than what is presented in the report."

"I do not accept the findings of the comptroller's report and maintain that there was no conflict of interest in attorney Masar's involvement," Olmert added.

Lindenstrauss issued a response to Olmert's criticism saying, "The report dealt with the issue of whether it is proper for the friend of a minister acting as the representative of a factory. We have here the involvement of a friend of yours that you (Olmert) possibly wanted to help to advance his projects. A prudent action on your part would have been to politely decline and transfer the matter to a different minister in the government, one without a personal relationship with the representative."

Olmert maintained that he did not level any personal criticism against the comptroller in his response to the report.

Olmert added that the government's inspection of the issue "became a circus and the person responsible for this is not me. I have a great deal of respect for the comptroller, and little if any respect for those who have made a circus out of this matter."

During the committee meeting Wednesday, Olmert stated "my involvement in the matter was requested and if I had shirked this request, it would have been a dereliction of my duty at the time."

Officials at the Justice Ministry recently determined that a criminal investigation against Olmert is imperative, "in order to examine suspicions that he was involved in fraud and breaches of trust."

State comptroller deliberations on the mater were delayed several times in the past, due to Olmert's refusal to take part.

Chairman of the state comptroller's committee, MK Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) threatened to issue a subpoena against Olmert, in order to insure his participation in the deliberations.

Olmert agreed on July 1st to take part in the deliberations, but Orlev suffered a cardiac episode and the meetings were again delayed.