People feel pretty proud when a Prime Minister comes from their neighbourhood; it becomes a talking point," says the falafel-seller in Binyamina. "But now nobody mentions it."
In recent weeks, Binyamina, just north of Caesarea, has become unlike any other place in Israel, where, true to a national stereotype, Israelis pass opinions on every matter under the sun.
People here have not only stopped talking about the fact that the PM hails from this small town of 7,000 people. Many will actually refuse to discuss Ehud Olmert and his troubles.
"Coming here and asking us about him is like asking his family - he has too many connections here for me to answer," barks Mikhael Grenti, a man in his early 70s at the kiosk in the tiny town centre. "I knew his father, I know his niece, what am I supposed to say?"
Olmert's relationship with Binyamina goes deeper than the fact he grew up there. Since pre-state days, Binyamina has been a stronghold of the Zionism of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, upon which the Israeli right built its ideology.
Olmert's parents moved here to be part of an agricultural community committed to the ideology of Nahalat Jabotinsky. When Olmert was elected as a Likud MK in 1973, he was viewed as the community's finest product.
Lots of old-timers act offended when asked about Olmert's current troubles. "Look, we like him very much here. He comes and visits schools and the like, and is always lovely," says one woman guardedly.
Sabel Shahab, a man in his 60s from the neighbouring Arab town of Jisr a-Zarqa, whose family used to work in the Olmert family vineyards, insists that "only if he is proved guilty should he leave his position".
But any feeling of connection to Olmert or sense of loyalty vanishes with younger locals. For a new wave of residents, Binyamina is a handy commuter town with a train station, and its history means little.
"Olmert? We need a PM with balls instead," says Shlomo Mashal at the bank, adding: "Is he from Binyamina?"
Similarly, Tiko Stern, a handyman working in a town-centre nursery school, feels no affinity, only contempt.
"He's far away from being a human being," he says. "We need to put him in jail - any normal citizen would already be there."