'senior official'

Olmert to Make Video Statement on Holyland ( Now on Ch 2 )

Reported: 18:46 PM - Apr/15/10

(IsraelNN.com) Former prime minister Ehud Olmert announced on Thursday afternoon that he would issue a statement at 8:00 Thursday evening in response to news that he is suspected of receiving a bribe from the entrepreneurs behind the Holyland real-estate project in Jerusalem.

The statement will be pre-recorded on video with no questions from reporters.

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EHUD OLMERT IS PRIME SUSPECT IN HOUSING SCAM

The Israeli courts have cleared for publication that former PM Olmert is considered the numero uno suspect in a real estate scam:

They referred to him as "the senior personality," "the main suspect abroad," and even E.O. Now, the missing link is finally official. Ehud Olmert, former prime minister and former mayor of Jerusalem during the licensing of the Holyland real estate project, is slated to be investigated under caution in coming days in what has been called by one judge, "one of the worst corruption cases in the history of the country."

This information was cleared for publication Thursday morning by the courts. It was also cleared for publication that the State Prosecutor's Office and the police have at a State witness at their disposal. The identity of the witness remains confidential.

The National Fraud Investigations Unit suspects that Olmert, currently on trial for three other corruption cases, pocketed hundreds of thousands of shekels from businessmen, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders in the affair. In return, the latter received a cash cow, recently labeled "an ugly real estate monstrosity" by the court.

It was also cleared for publication that the police suspect that as a result of the bribes the Holyland real estate development was expanded 1,200% beyond the limit authorized in the original plan. The police suspect that the bribes were systematically handed out to various officials in the Jerusalem Municipality and other public bodies.

As the Holyland affair broke last week and part of it were first made known to the public, Olmert was abroad. This was no coincidence. Ynet learned that the arrest warrants for the six arrested suspects waited until Olmert's plane took off, and then the police jumped on the opportunity.

"The fact that he was abroad served the investigation overall," explained the police. "After all, he couldn't disrupt it from there, and this also prevented unnecessary unpleasantness for him. Such a senior personality is not so easily arrested."

That's the sad part of it. He can't be permitted immunity from trial and arrest just because he was such a bigshot. He's planning to go on TV to insist he's innocent. But all he's doing is making himself look utterly pathetic, and unable to face the reality of his wrongs. Olmert is simply a very disgraceful man, unwilling to admit to any guilt in the wrongdoings he's committed over the years. Now, he's hopefully going to pay a heavy price for his deeds, which include, lest we forget, his attempts to sell Israel down the river to the Religion of Peace. If he does pay the price, it will be most richly deserved.

Posted by Avi Green

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