Israel’s Olmert Faces Criminal Inquiry
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Prime Minister Olmert will face a criminal investigation over corruption allegations stemming from a real-estate purchase in Jerusalem, and his former finance minister may be indicted, the Justice Ministry said.
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said yesterday that police will follow up on an inquiry by Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus, who found evidence Mr. Olmert paid a below-market price for a house he bought three years ago in return for favors to a building contractor.
A former finance minister, Avraham Hirschson, a longtime friend of the prime minister who resigned in April, may be indicted on fraud, theft, and money laundering charges connected to a period when he was a labor union leader, Mr. Mazuz said.
“There is reason to open a criminal investigation to clarify the suspicions that came up in the inquiry” of Mr. Olmert by Mr. Lindenstraus, Mr. Mazuz said in a faxed statement. Mr. Olmert was minister of industry and trade when he bought the property at 8 Cremieux Street in Jerusalem in 2004.
The Mazuz decision exposes Mr. Olmert to a second criminal investigation after police were told in January to determine whether he interfered with the state auction of Bank Leumi Le-Israel Ltd., Israel’s biggest lender by assets.
The inquiry into the auction continues. The allegations over the house come as Mr. Olmert was starting to recover his popularity, which reached a low of 3% after he was blamed by a state commission in April for mistakes in last year’s war against Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.
Mr. Olmert, 61, said he’s innocent of any allegations related to the Jerusalem property and will cooperate with investigators. The prime minister withstood pressure to resign from inside his Kadima Party after the Lebanon panel report. He has since gained renewed support with Kadima and from the rest of his governing coalition, which controls 78 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
“We are absolutely convinced of the integrity of the Olmert family’s purchase of the house,” the prime minister said in a statement on his office Web site. “This investigation is uncalled for.”
Before deciding whether Mr. Hirschson’s case will go to trial, Mr. Mazuz will invite the former finance minister for a hearing because of his status as a member of Parliament, the Justice Ministry said.
