Word: olmert
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...Israeli general election that would sweep Ariel Sharon into power, Ehud Olmert, then the mayor of Jerusalem and Sharon's right-hand man, explained why the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had been brought down. Olmert pointed out that at the Camp David peace talks Barak had offered the Palestinians almost all of the West Bank and half of Jerusalem. Olmert declared, "This shows that anyone who dares to raise his hand against Jerusalem will be wiped...
...Olmert himself has been "wiped out." Months after offering the Palestinians a deal similar to Barak's, he was forced to resign last year as Israel's Prime Minister over a string of corruption allegations. On Sunday he became the first Israeli Prime Minister ever indicted on criminal charges, part of a scandal that will prevent him from returning to power anytime soon. (See pictures of the divided citizens of Jerusalem...
...page indictment charges Olmert with multiple counts of fraud, breach of faith and deception. Prosecutors say Olmert double-billed for trips abroad on behalf of various charities and public bodies, including the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, and received tens of thousands of dollars in cash payments from Long Island, New York, financier Morris Talansky. Olmert vigorously denies the charges and says he will fight to clear his name...
Many religious Israelis believe that Olmert's woes are divine punishment for his reneging on his promise never to divide Jerusalem. According to one poll, more than a quarter of all Israelis and a majority of the religious ones believe that Ariel Sharon's massive stroke in January 2006 was punishment for ordering Israel's withdrawal from Gush Katif in Gaza in 2005 and considering a Palestinian state. "No question about it," Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, a leader of the Chabad Hasidic movement in Israel told TIME. "He fought against the people of Israel, against the land of Israel, against...
...there may be a more earthly kind of justice at work. Olmert is the fourth senior Israeli politician to face criminal charges in the past year: former President Moshe Katsav is on trial for rape (he has denied the charge); Olmert's former Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson was sentenced to five years for theft and money-laundering; and former Health Minister Shlomo Benizri of the Shas Party is about to start a prison sentence for bribery. "It reflects the growing toughness of the enforcement agencies, their ability and their will to confront the highest ranks of politics in order...