Jerusalem - His political future becoming increasingly
uncertain, Ehud Olmert was probed for a third time Friday on
suspicions that he illegally accepted at least tens of thousands of
US dollars in cash from an American fundraiser.
Police questioned Olmert for more than two hours at his Jerusalem
residence Friday morning, Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said,
ahead of a crucial cross-examination of key state witness Morris
Talansky by the premier's lawyers Thursday next week.
The spokesman would give no details, but Israeli media, quoting
law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because
the investigation is confidential, said the detectives confronted the
premier with new evidence gathered in the US.
The new material, they said, includes statements by witnesses who
said they were present in the hotel rooms when Talansky, a Jewish
fundraiser and businessman from Long Island, handed cash envelopes to
Olmert, 62.
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.
He told that hearing that he gave Olmert some 150,000 dollars,
much of it in cash because he was asked to do so, over a course of 15
years, when Olmert served as mayor of Jerusalem and as cabinet
minister for the hardline Likud party.
Olmert has admitted to receiving several envelopes, but with
hundreds of dollars only, not thousands or tens of thousands. His
lawyers and spokesmen have said they were legitimate reimbursements
of food and accommodation expenses, paid for by his hosts when
invited to speak at events in the US.
The rest of the large sums of money he received from Talansky
between 1992 and 2005 were donations, used for four election
campaigns - when he ran for mayor of Jerusalem in 1993 and 1998 and
for the Likud leadership in 1999 and 2002, Olmert has said. Money
received in the years after the campaigns was used to retroactively
cover debts from the campaigns.
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 lobbying trips in the US.
Olmert's advisors said that during Friday's questioning the
premier would counter some of the statements made by Talansky and
prove them false.
Talansky has also said that he raised the money for Olmert 'purely
of admiration' and that he 'never had any personal benefits from this
relationship.'
But police are investigating whether a future tradeoff was
expected in return for the donations. The Israeli Ma'ariv daily on
Thursday printed letters written by Olmert, among others one to top
Las Vegas real-estate mogul Sheldon Adelson dating November 2005,
asking the addressees to consider the services of Talansky's company,
Cooltech, which produces mini-bars for hotels.
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.
It is still unclear whether Olmert will run in the primaries, but
an associate said this week that he realizes his chances are slim and
that he is inclined not to do so.
His advisors however still hope that the cross-examination of
Talansky by Olmert's lawyers on July 17, will change the negative
perception of the premier 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.
And a senior law enforcement official told Ma'ariv on Thursday
that he was certain the case would result in an indictment. Even if
prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to back up the allegation of
bribe-taking, the indictment could include fraud, breach of trust,
money laundering and violation of Israel's party funding law, he
said.
But State Prosecutor Moshe Lador told reporters before Talansky's
May 27 court hearing that it was too early to know whether the case
would develop into an indictment, and accused the Israeli media and
law enforcement sources of 'irresponsible' and inaccurate statements.
Olmert's lawyers have reacted furiously to the constant leaking by
law enforcement sources to the Israeli media.
The premier's closest confident, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, said
that even if Olmert did not participate in the Kadima leadership
contest, to be held between September 14-18, or lost, it was possible
he could continue to govern at the head of a transition government
until an agreed date for early elections next winter or spring.
USA
Your Talkback on this Story