FBI Reportedly Investigating Ehud Olmert
The soon-to-be-former Israeli prime minister's legal woes may extend to the U.S.
Just when it seemed as though the mantle of sleaze clinging to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert could not get any thicker, it did.
According to a report in the Israeli media (Hebrew link), the prime minister of Israel is the target of yet another criminal investigation — this time in the United States. The FBI is looking into what appears to be concrete evidence of Olmert’s complicity in money laundering and illegal solicitation of financial contributions.
For four months, Olmert has been under the latest of a series of criminal investigations in Israel. This time, he is suspected of accepting cash-filled envelopes amounting to at least $150,000 from Long Island Jewish businessman Morris (Moshe) Talansky over a period of 15 years, when he was alternately minister of trade and industry and mayor of Jerusalem. Police investigators have hinted strongly that Talansky transferred several hundred thousand dollars more to Olmert, via the prime minister’s former law partner.
Olmert claimed that the envelopes of cash were reimbursement for legitimate expenses, while the state claimed that the money was either acquired under false pretences (”campaign contributions”), or that Talansky was bribing Olmert for his business connections. The prime minister has denied receiving money from Talansky via Uri Messer, his former law partner.
The FBI entered the picture shortly after Talansky’s first deposition in Jerusalem in May. Israeli investigators flew to New York to meet with federal officers, where they apparently turned over a substantial paper trail. The federal probe led to the New York-based New Jerusalem Fund, which was managed by Talansky — but headed by Olmert.
According to Israeli journalist Yoav Yitzhak the fund, which was ostensibly set up to raise money for Jerusalem renewal and NGO projects, was in fact a front for money laundering. So far, the investigators are talking about approximately $500,000 in unaccounted for funds.
FBI investigators have already discovered that Olmert played an active role in deciding how contributions made to the fund should be used. NFC has been informed that investigators have uncovered a disparity between the amounts raised by New Jerusalem in the United States and the amounts the fund’s managers claimed were transferred to the Jerusalem branch and other bodies. In other words, the FBI suspects that funds were either stolen or laundered.
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Lisa Goldman is a freelance Canadian-Israeli journalist, who blogs at On the Face. She lives in Tel Aviv.
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4 Comments
1. Noga:I always considered Olmert a mediocre personality and never understood how he got to be Israel’s prime minister. Now it turns out that he was also a corrupt mediocrity who was not averse to making shady deals in semi-darkened corners. It defies all comprehrension where he had gotten the arrogance to believe that he could do all this and not be found out, sooner or later. Who do these people think they are? Why do they feel immune to the public’s scrutiny when they reach a certain elevated political stature?
Aug 19, 2008 - 6:51 am 2. Gabi:Noga, beauty and mediocrity are both in the eye of the beholder, and women and magicians both know how well sleight of hand can misdirect the human eye.
To be the prime minister in a parliamentary system, perceived mediocrity helps to seal impossible consensus agreements where the parties exit feeling at least better than mediocre, because expectations started at a low level, and yet they have something modest to show they achieved.
Ehud Olmert himself is not average or mediocre, he’s a modern political Houdini. I think Olmert is in politics for the same reason that Houdini continually attempted more daring escapes.
If Olmert is eventually given his day in a court of law, and if he is actually proven guilty of all of the accusations that have been so easily (and conveniently) aimed against him without any accountability or expense for the accusers, that would make him indisputably the greatest confidence artist ever discovered (the only Olympic contest where the winner gives back the gold medal).
However, in democratic nations the ticket-holders don’t need to remain chained to their seats when the magician’s tricks endanger the audience. At this point, the motives of the Kadima Party (a house of cards based on the cult of personality of Ariel Sharon) are being weighed in Israel, demonstrating the great strength of civil society in Israel as a free nation with the right to question the actions and motivations of their representatives and leaders.
Aug 20, 2008 - 1:56 am 3. ReCon USMC:Any one that follows Israeli politics knows why Ehud Olmert was selected sadly .
Aug 20, 2008 - 7:49 am 4. 49erDweet:He is a weak “Moderate ” and a Union man . Israel was tired of War and Olmert is a master comprise negotiator at the highest level and a Lawyer to boot . That is why he was selling Israel hear , Soul and land and border protection to people that wanted to destroy Israel .
That is also STRANGELY why he installed a Air Force moderate to run
the Military .Normally every other Military leader of Israel have been tough as as nails ground commanders with a long list of BRILLIANT WAR HERO’S .
That was also again “”Why ” they were not prepared for Hezbollah and the surprise power of their long time enemy .
If ReCon USMC is correct in saying Israel elected Olmert because they were “tired of War”, and I agree with that POV, then will the resulting mess the EO administration dumped on his countrymen serve as a lesson for US voters this fall? No, I suppose not.
“Tired of War” is akin to being “tired of life”, imo. No sane person wants war. But refusing to confront evil because one is “tired” or “nice” is turning over the streets to the crooks, and all that implies. Shades of Jima Cahtuh. Is it time for more Kool-Aid?
Aug 22, 2008 - 10:33 am