Israel Matzav

Olmert seeking revenge against those who 'conspired' to bring him down

At one time, former Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson were good friends. That changed when Olmert acceded to his family's wishes and became a 'peace processor.'

Adelson and Olmert had been friends for many years, but Olmert, a longtime hard-liner on the Palestinian issue, had as prime minister come to embrace the idea of a two-state solution as the only way of preserving Israel as a democratic state with a Jewish majority. Adelson was apoplectic. His answer to the Jewish-Arab demographic trend-line was simple: “I think Jews should have lots of sex. That is the solution to our demographic problem.” Adelson spent nearly two hundred million dollars to launch a free daily newspaper, Israel Hayom, and set out to use it to help make Netanyahu prime minister; the daily, widely viewed as a Netanyahu mouthpiece, became known as Bibi-ton, and it attacked Olmert fiercely. Adelson could not take credit for the prime minister’s eventual demise—Olmert resigned after being indicted on charges of corruption—but he did play a crucial role in electing Netanyahu.

But now, Olmert wants revenge for his loss of power. And Sheldon Adelson is a prime target.

"We are not looking for conspiracy theories but we want answers to facts," a source close to Olmert said. "Certain people became part of the political game and brought about investigations, which led to his resignation. You have to ask yourself whether these things should be investigated."

The source noted that in October 2007, an American Jew testified to the police about alleged bribes given to Olmert by New York financier Moshe Talansky and that the Talansky investigation led to others. He complained that a woman testified against Olmert from the US, and it was later found that her husband ran a right-wing, anti-Olmert blog. He also cited the founding of the newspaper Israel Hayom by right-wing American Jew Sheldon Adelson and its role in bringing down Olmert.

"People intoxicated by power toppled a prime minister,” former minister Haim Ramon told Israel Radio. “American right-wing Jews who filed countless complaints against Olmert have to be investigated. They saw Olmert as the man who could deliver an agreement with the Palestinians. Consider what Olmert could have done had he remained prime minister for two more years instead of Netanyahu.”

Actually, I shudder at the thought of two more years with Olmert as Prime Minister. But I doubt that things would be very different with the 'Palestinians.' Just a lot more talking and a 'settlement freeze.'

Olmert himself told CNN's Christian Amanpour when he came to New York for The Jerusalem Post Conference in April that he had been the victim of a right-wing conspiracy involving American millionaires. Like Ramon, he refused to name names.

“[Trying to make peace] was a killer for me,” he said. “I had to fight against superior powers, including millions and millions of dollars that were transferred from this country by figures in the extreme right-wing who tried to topple me. There is no question about it. I know the names of people who spent millions of dollars who tried to stop me. They wanted to prevent a government led by me from achieving peace.”

But was the problem a government led by Olmert, or was the problem 'peace'? I believe that the problem was 'peace.' Quite simply, it's impossible at any price that would not result in - God forbid - the extirpation of the State of Israel.

Something tells me that Sheldon Adelson is not losing sleep at night worrying about Ehud Olmert. Keep this in mind: Yisrael HaYom has become extraordinarily popular because of its marketing plan (it's handed out for free and lives on ad revenues), and because there was no other newspaper in Israel that was expressing the points of view that it expresses. Apparently, no Israelis were willing to bankroll such a venture. There is nothing wrong with Adelson doing so. Ask Rupert Murdoch.

And not to say that the decision to do so was illegitimate - it was certainly within her rights - but might the results of the Rishontours and Talansky cases have been different if Olmert's office administrator, Shula Zaken, had testified against him instead of taking the fall for him?

Read the whole thing.

Labels: conspiracy theories, corruption, Ehud K. Olmert, Sheldon Adelson

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:48 PM