CC Issues Another Arrest Warrant: Ehud Olmert

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Last update - 01:53 02/10/2008

By Gideon Levy

White smoke emerged from the tribal campfire on Rosh Hashanah Eve, announcing Channel 2 News' choice for man of the year. Commentators from the most popular and influential media outlet in the country announced their decision after holding a shallow and absurd discussion. "[He is] a man who has done only good," political analyst Emmanuel Rosen said of the selection, speaking on behalf of judging panel. Who is this rare and illustrious person who did so much good? Mossad chief Meir Dagan. An excited Rosen added: "[He is] a man who would cut the throats of terrorists with his own hands, using a box-cutter - a man of action with a knife in his teeth."

By way of supporting their decision they presented a "rare journalistic achievement": a glimpse of a meeting between our hero Dagan and outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. The images echoed Communist Romania or North Korea: Olmert hosting Meirkeh, as the Mossad head is called by U.S. President George Bush, in his office. Both said very little in front of the cameras. "You did well," the prime minister said to Rosen, about the recognition. Then two character witnesses were called in. Major Gen. (res.) Yossi Ben Hanan spoke about how Dagan once killed a terrorist with his own hands, though of course he did not specify how, and reminisced about how they had once traveled together in the Far East. National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer added: "I recommend that you don't get too close to him - I suggest your story had best be favorable."

Later the panel made intimations about his doings in the past year: The killing of senior Hezbollah leader Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, a few more mysterious and unnecessary killings and, of course, the bombing of the alleged nuclear site in Syria, operations that they said should make Meirke deserving of "at least 10 Israel Prizes."

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Olmert has never lifted a finger in all his years as PM to stop the Army supported settler violence. Bye, Olmert. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.


Prime minister harshly criticizes Yitzhar residents who launched revenge campaign in West Bank village following stabbing attack which left nine-year-old child injured. 'The phenomenon of violent and brutal riots is intolerable,' he says

Roni Sofer
Published: 09.14.08, 10:43 / Israel News

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday harshly criticized settlers who launched a revenge campaign in a West Bank village after a Palestinian stabbed and injured a nine-year-old boy in the settlement of Yitzhar Saturday.

"The phenomenon of taking the law into one's hands and violent and brutal rioting is intolerable, and will receive an immediate response by the law enforcement authorities," Olmert said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.

"There will be no pogroms against non-Jewish residents in the State of Israel," he added.

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Israeli leader to resign 'immediately' after vote

By JOSEF FEDERMAN – 6 hours ago

JERUSALEM (AP) — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will step down immediately after his party chooses a successor this month, a confidant said Thursday, shooting down speculation the Israeli leader would try to linger in office for months.

The announcement means that Israel could find itself racing to form a new government in as little as a week. And it raised new questions about Washington's stated goal of brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement by year's end.

Olmert, who is battling a corruption investigation, announced in July that he would resign some time after his Kadima Party chooses a new leader in a Sept. 17 primary.

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Independent.co.uk

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem
Monday, 8 September 2008

The Israeli Attorney General has been urged to launch a criminal investigation into whether Shaul Mofaz, a leading prime ministerial candidate, ordered "war crimes" to be committed when he was the military's chief of staff.

A leading Israeli law professor has written to justice officials, calling for the investigation into claims – highlighted by The Independent last month – that during a briefing to army officers in May 2001, after the start of the second Palestinian uprising, Mr Mofaz ordered a daily "quota" of Palestinian deaths.

Last night, Israeli police recommended to prosecutors that the Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, be indicted in a corruption investigation. With Mr Olmert committed to resigning after his Kadima party holds a leadership vote a week today, the recommendation will have no immediate impact on his tenure and does not guarantee an indictment by the Attorney General.

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Sun, 07 Sep 2008 17:13:12 GMT
Police have recommended the indictment of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after considering probes into his corruption cases.

In a statement issued on Sunday, police recommended the indictment of Olmert on corruption charges related to two different cases, AFP reported.

Police investigators said they had sufficient evidence to indict the embattled PM on charges of accepting bribes and breaching public trust over receiving cash envelopes from a US businessman.

Olmert is also accused of billing the same overseas trips several times over "to pay for private trips for himself and his family".

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Thu Sep 4, 2008 5:48pm EDT

By Joseph Nasr

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police are likely to recommend on Sunday indicting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on corruption charges, Israeli media reported on Thursday.

A police source declined to comment on what investigators would advise the state prosecution. But he said police would announce their recommendations in the long-running case "within the next few days".

With Olmert committed to resigning after his Kadima party holds a leadership election on September 17, a police recommendation to bring charges against him will have no immediate impact on his tenure and does not guarantee an indictment will be filed.

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After Olmert, Ezra Threats to Burn All Lebanon

Hanan Awarekeh

20/08/2008 One day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned to take measures with no military restrictions against Lebanon if the country “turns into a Hezbollah state”; Israeli Environment Minister Gideon Ezra said on Wednesday that in any new war with the resistance group Hezbollah all of Lebanon will be a target for Israel, including its civilian infrastructure.

Ezra told public radio, "The moment the Lebanese government confers legitimacy on Hezbollah; it must understand that the entire Lebanese state will be a target in the same way that all of Israel is a target for Hezbollah."

"During the Second Lebanese War we considered the possibility of attacking Lebanon's infrastructure but we never resorted to this option, because we thought at the time that all the Lebanese were not responsible for the Hezbollah attacks," added Ezra, who is close to Olmert.

Israeli bombing during the 2006 Second Lebanon War was largely confined to Beirut and the south but the military did hit civilians.

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w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

Last update - 10:12 18/08/2008

Israel Police: FBI decision to probe Talansky is no surprise

By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) into the conduct of Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky, a key figure in the corruption probe currently underway against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, came as no surprise to Israel's police investigators.

Senior police officials said Sunday that it is customary for the FBI to become involved in Israeli investigations being conducted within the U.S.

Olmert is being investigated for allegations that he accepted illicit funds over many years from Talansky. In his preliminary deposition in Jerusalem on May 27, Talansky testified that he gave Olmert $150,000, mostly in cash, for political campaigns and travel expenses. He denied receiving anything in return for the cash, which was allegedly conveyed in envelopes through third parties.

Superintendents Tzachi Havkin and Lior Rice, who set out some two months ago to conduct parts of the investigation in the U.S., personally met with FBI representatives during their stay. The police have classified the investigators' activities in Washington, New York and Las Vegas as top secret, though most of the material they gathered has already been handed over to the prosecution and to Olmert's attorneys.

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Israel's legal system has laid the groundwork for an apartheid regime

w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 09:32 03/08/2008

By Gideon Levy

The Olmert affair has come and all but gone. A few more invoices here and some daggers there will be hurled at the hemorrhaging political corpse hanging in the town square, and Ehud Olmert will disappear into the sunset. A hedonistic, spendthrift prime minister, a relatively small-time, corrupt man who, like many others, did not know where to the draw the line between public and private money and who - like many of his colleagues in the upper crust of government - thought that a politician deserves everything, is going home. Olmert and his transgressions will be remembered as a footnote in history.

Contrary to the typically passionate claims of a few self-styled protectors of the law, Olmert's conduct did not for one second endanger the rule of law in Israel; it did not threaten its form of government, nor did it undermine the state's foundations. Far more serious acts of corruption have been committed. Much greater dangers stalk and ultimately threaten the rule of law, and our democracy is fissured and fragile due to other phenomena. It isn't the Rishon Tours affair, nor the house on Cremieux Street, nor the Talanskys of this world, nor the cronyism and patronage in the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry that shape the state's character. On the contrary, the manner in which the relevant instruments of power sprang into action and launched an all-out offensive clearly proves that when it comes to minor corruptible violations, the rule of law is in relatively good shape. The danger we are faced with stems from other, incalculably graver circumstances. Nobody has taken it upon himself to wage a war against these circumstances, because this war demands much more courage.

Like the "investigative journalism" programs we see on television, the self-righteous preoccupy themselves with trifle matters. How great it must be to make a name for yourself as a pursuer of justice as you shine the spotlight of your "investigation" onto a rabbi who got a little too frisky or the mechanic who overcharges his customer. This is a war that is universally satisfying to all sides. After all, who wants to tolerate an adulterous rabbi, a swindling mechanic, or a thief for a prime minister?

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Independent.co.uk

By Donald Macintyre in Jerusalem

Friday, 1 August 2008

A leading candidate to be Israel's next premier called for a death toll of 70 Palestinians a day when he was head of the military during the second intifada, according to a best-selling book by two Israeli journalists.

The account of a briefing given in May 2001 to senior West Bank army commanders reinforces the image of hawkishness enjoyed by Shaul Mofaz. He has emerged as the main rival to the Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, for the leadership of the Kadima party being vacated by Ehud Olmert. Mr Mofaz is expected to stress his security credentials as a former chief of staff and defence minister in his campaign to defeat Ms Livni, the most popular among the Israeli public of the candidates to succeed Mr Olmert as party leader.

According to the book Boomerang, by Ofer Shelah, of Yedhiot Ahronot, and Raviv Drucker, of Channel Ten, Mr Mofaz convened a meeting of brigade and regimental commanders covering the occupied West Bank at Jerusalem's Ammunition Hill. It occurred early in the premiership of Ariel Sharon when the intifada was well under way.

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Israeli prime minister to resign in September

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer 10 minutes ago

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Wednesday he will resign in September, throwing his country into political turmoil and raising doubts about progress for U.S.-backed Mideast peace efforts.

Olmert's brief address included harsh criticism of police investigations of corruption allegations against him. He said he was choosing the public good over his personal justice. He has denied wrongdoing but pledged to resign if indicted.

Olmert said he would not run in his party's primary election, set for Sept. 17, and would step down afterward "in order to allow the chairman to be elected and form a different government quickly and efficiently."

His decision not to run in the Kadima Party primary sets in motion a process to choose a new prime minister.

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Last update - 18:48 30/07/2008

Olmert to deliver surprise address to public at 8 P.M.

By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will make a statement to the public from his official residence on Wednesday at 8 P.M., his office said.

The surprise announcement did not say what subject Olmert would address. Political sources said they believed Olmert may announce that he will not run in an upcoming leadership contest in his Kadima party, scheduled for September 17.

The prime minister has been under official criminal investigation in recent months over allegations of corruption in his former capacities as Jerusalem mayor and trade minister.
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The two most prominent investigations involve suspicions that Olmert took bribes from American businessman Morris Talansky, and charges he submitted duplicate claims for travel expenses which he allegedly used to fund family trips abroad. He has denied wrongdoing but said he would resign if indicted.

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w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

Last update - 12:14 22/07/2008

By Jonathan Lis

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is suspected of paying for dozens of family flights with money he received via the Rishon Tours travel agency.

Each organization that paid Olmert's travel bills through Rishon Tours believed its contributions were covering Olmert's working trips abroad, and was not aware that several different organizations were actually financing the same flights.

"We're talking about many family trips, of at least two family members each time, whose tickets were covered by that account in Rishon Tours," Police sources said Monday.

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w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 12:27 16/07/2008
Another Olmert probe, another American businessman, another unpaid loan
By Gidi Weitz, Haaretz Correspondent

On Friday, May 23, investigators from the National Fraud Unit, headed by Brig. Gen. Shlomi Ayalon, arrived at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem and interrogated him on suspicion of receiving cash from Moshe (Morris) Talansky. In the course of that interrogation they whipped out Olmert's classified declaration of assets, the one he had submitted to the state comptroller in 2003 as required by law.

One line in the report cited a $75,000 loan Olmert took from Joe Elmaleh, a wealthy Israeli businessman who now lives in Vermont. Olmert received that hefty loan on January 1, 1993, when he was an opposition Knesset member and a few months away from beating Teddy Kollek in the Jerusalem mayoral race. The investigators discovered that this money
has never been repaid.

The police investigators asked Olmert several tough questions. "Why didn't you repay the loan to Elmaleh?" they queried. The prime minister claimed that the repayment date had not yet arrived, even though more than 15 years had gone by. Olmert thereby effectively confirmed that he has not repaid a cent to Elmaleh. The loan is worth about $150,000 today, or half a million shekels.

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SHOCKER: Israeli law-enforcement officials say Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (above) fleeced his nation's Holocaust memorial and accepted $150,000 in illegal campaign contributions from Long Islander Morris Talansky.

OLMERT'S '100G FRAUD'

NEW BILL-SCAM RAP MAY BE NAIL IN PM'S COFFIN

By ANDY SOLTIS

July 12, 2008

Israel's prime minister scammed his country's revered Holocaust memorial, a charity for disabled children and other groups out of $100,000 in a brazen double-billing scheme, investigators said yesterday.

They said Ehud Olmert personally ran the fraud and used the money to finance lavish family trips abroad.

One law-enforcement official said Olmert would have been arrested already if he weren't prime minister.

The dramatic new charges sharply expanded the three-month probe and greatly increase the likelihood that Olmert will be indicted and forced from office.

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Israeli police accuse Olmert of fraud, widen probe

Police widen corruption investigation, now probing whether PM received duplicate funding for trips abroad, used money to finance private family trips; Olmert associate: Police creating misplaced drama

Reuters and Efrat Weiss

Latest Update: 07.11.08, 16:25 / Israel News

Israeli police accused Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of fraud on Friday and said an investigation into alleged bribe-taking had been widened to look at whether he made duplicate claims for travel expenses.

"The prime minister was asked to give his account about suspicions of serious fraud and other offences," police and the Justice Ministry said in a joint statement issued after investigators questioned Olmert for the third time.

Police have been investigating allegations Olmert took bribes from American businessman Morris Talansky. Olmert said he did nothing wrong in his dealings with the New York Jewish fundraiser but has promised to step down if indicted.

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w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 17:27 08/07/2008

Olmert to be questioned by police for third time

By Jonathan Lis and Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be questioned by the police fraud squad on Friday for the third time in the ongoing corruption probe against him.

Olmert is being investigated for allegations that he accepted illicit funds over many years from Morris Talansky, a Jewish American businessman from Long Island, in what has been dubbed "the envelopes affair."

Talansky, the key witness against Olmert, is expected to arrive in Israel next Thursday to be cross-examined by Olmert's attorneys. Talansky already gave a preliminary deposition in the Jerusalem District Court on May 27.

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w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m

Last update - 22:35 01/07/2008

State Dept. denies report Israel likely to attack Iran this year

By Haaretz Service and Reuters

The U.S. State Department on Tuesday criticized reported comments by a senior U.S. defense official who said there was an increasing likelihood Israel would attack Iran over its nuclear program, calling his statements "foolish."

The unidentified defense official told ABC News that it was increasingly likely Israel would attack Iran, and that Washington was concerned Iran would strike both the United States and Israel in retaliation.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in response to the report: "I have no information that would substantiate that, and I think it's rather foolish of people who often have no clue what they're talking about to assert things and not even have the courtesy to do so on the basis of their name."

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