By Xinhua,
Jerusalem : Israeli police recommended on Sunday evening that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert should be indicted in two corruption cases.
Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for Israeli police, told Xinhua that the police has recommended that the premier should be charged with bribery, the most severe charge he faced, fraud, breach of trust and a string of other charges.
The decision was made after a five-hour meeting over the premier’s probes on Sunday afternoon. Maj. Gen. Yohanan Danino, the head of the Israel Police’s Investigations and Intelligence Division, held the meeting with the heads of the police teams investigating the premier to seek a final decision over whether to indict Olmert.
According to a formal statement issued by the Israeli police on Sunday evening, the police recommended to indict Olmert over the Rishon tours and Morris Talansky cash affairs.
But regarding another case over the Investment Center affair, police have yet to put forward a final recommendation because further investigation is required.
The police are set to give their recommendations to the State Attorney’s Office. Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz and State-Attorney Moshe Lador will review the case material before making a decision on whether to charge the prime minister.
THE TWO CASES
Olmer is currently being investigated in a total of six cases of alleged corruption. However, police finally recommended to indict Olmert over two cases.
One case focuses on Morris Talansky, a 76-year-old American Jewish businessman who was testified of giving Olmert 150,000 U.S. dollars in cash over a 10-year period to help him in four election campaigns, including two Jerusalem mayoralty campaigns and two primaries of the Likud party.
In addition, Talansky allegedly gave Olmert tens of thousands of dollars contributed by American Jews who attended campaign dinners, in part financing Olmert a luxurious lifestyle of expensive hotels and upgrading his flight tickets.
During a pre-trial testimony on May 27, Talansky was also questioned about the possibility that he had given Olmert more than 200,000 dollars to cover debts from Olmert’s 1998 Jerusalem mayoralty campaign.
The police statement said the investigation “found that Talansky transferred to Olmert, over the years from 1997 and on, large sums of money in different ways, in cash and illegally,” adding that Olmert promoted Talansky’s businesses in return.
The second case, the Rishon Tours affair double billing affair, concerns charges that the premier is suspected of having sent bills to more than one non-profit organization for trips abroad to Jewish institutions to raise money.
When he spoke on behalf of two or three different non-profit organizations on the same trip, he would charge each of them the full flight fare.
According to the allegations, the extra money went into a special account managed by Rishon Tours, his travel agency, and was used to pay for private trips made by Olmert and his family. Police estimated that he had collected some 110,000 dollars by this means.
According to the police statement, among the organizations “swindled” in the double-billing were the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Authority and the Soldiers Welfare Fund.
In the Investment Center affair, Olmert, while serving as the industry, trade and labor minister, allegedly granted large state investment funds to a company which his close associate and former law partner Uri Messer had been hired to represent.
The police are expected to reach a decision regarding the Investment Center affair in the near future.
OLMERT’S REACTION
Olmert’s attorneys responded to the police recommendation and said that the decision was “meaningless” just as the police statement was issued, said local daily Ha’aretz.
It said the police recommendation is “of no value” because “the only person with the authority to indict the prime minister is the attorney general,” stating that a Supreme Court justice spoke out against the practice of police by passing a recommendation along with the results of their investigations.
“We will wait patiently for the decision of the attorney general,” the statement said. “Unlike the police, he is aware of the heavy responsibility he holds.”
Olmert’s media advisor, Amir Dan, was also quoted by Ha’arez assaying on Saturday that “the police have no choice but to recommend an indictment, since they have to justify the fact that they brought down a prime minister in office.”
However, Mark Regev, the spokesman for Olmert, told Xinhua in a telephone interview that the prime minister has “no comments” on the police announcement.
The premier has been questioned by police under caution for seven times since the Talansky Affair went public in May. However, he denies any wrongdoing in any of the cases.
Embroiled in the series of probes, Olmert announced late July that he would resign as soon as a new leader of his ruling Kadima party is elected. He has also said that he would step down if indicted.
In fact, the police recommendation would have only limited effect. Only Attorney General Meni Mazuz has the right to decide whether to indict Olmert.
In the past, Mazuz and his predecessors have rejected police recommendations to indict Israeli leaders for several times.
According to the legal procedure, the police should present the materials to the State Prosecutor’s Office along with recommendations.
The final decision on whether to indict Olmert is expected to be made in approximately two weeks, following a hearing.