Only in Israel: 'Commitment to peace' claimed to trump taking $600,000 in bribes
Only in Israel would a disgraced former Prime Minister have the gall to call as a character witness the former Prime Minister of a foreign country to urge a reduced sentence for taking $600,000 in bribes because of his 'commitment to peace.' The disgraced former Prime Minister is Ehud K. Olmert (pictured above being greeted in jail by convicted rapist and former President Moshe Katzav). The former Prime Minister of a foreign country is Britain's Tony Blair.
Blair's letter, which highlighted Olmert's commitment to "ensuring that
Israel was protected," but noted his appreciation that "peace was an
indispensable part of such protection," was issued to the court as
Olmert's defense team attempted to roll back the scrutiny assailing
Olmert's reputation and pleaded for the former Labor leader not to serve
any jail time.
...
The Defense emphasized Olmert's personal relationship with other major
figures during his tenure, with Blair's letter suggesting that the two
leader's report going "beyond that between heads of Government", being
"based on friendship and trust with a clear understanding of the needs
and sensitivities of the other side."
A second letter was issued on Olmert's behalf by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, a man who has probably done more than any other Israeli to ensure that Iran becomes a nuclear weapons state.
Just how corrupt is Olmert? From the original link above:
[I]n March, the court assessed the new [Olmert's former secretary Shula] Zaken recordings, her journal and
much of her testimony, changing their conclusion from acquittal into
convicting Olmert after finding that the evidence proved beyond a
reasonable doubt that at least $153,950 out of the over $600,000 Olmert
was accused of using for illegal personal use was in fact used
illegally.
Damningly, the court found that a recording of Olmert
telling Zaken she could take funds from a secret safe for her illegal
use contradicted his narrative that he was unaware of any such funds
or that he thought they were being used for permitted political
purposes.
Yes, Israelis, our government is often as corrupt as we think it is.
I've reported on this blog before regarding the massive amounts of trade with Iran by Germany in general, and by electronics giant Siemens in particular. Things are so bad that at one point, then-Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz proposed barring Israelis from investing in Siemens. It now turns out that some Israelis have made a different kind of investment in Siemens. Or rather, that Siemens has made an investment in them (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
The gag order was lifted today that the Israel Securities Authority
and Israel Police questioned under caution four men on suspicion of
involvement in receiving $16 million in bribes from Siemens AG (NYSE:
SI; XETRA: SIE) to rig the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) (TASE: ELEC.B22)
tender for power station turbines. The four men are former Siemens
Israel Energy and Industry Division manager Oren Aharonson; Oakfield
Ltd. owner Shlomo Daniel,
Aharonson's brother-in-law; forex trader Anton
Mitchell Dalin, an associate of Aharonson; and Haim Bar-Nir, who served
as IEC planning division deputy manager unit at the time, and recently
left the company.
Former District Court Judge Dan Cohen is already serving a six-year
sentence in the case, for taking a NIS 4 million bribe from Siemens.
Aharonson was the state's witness against the judge.
Aharonson
and his associates are suspected of being the middlemen in transferring
Siemens' $16 million bribe to Bar-Nir and Dalin, through various foreign
bank accounts. Aharonson is also suspected of obstructing the
investigation and obstruction of justice by not handing the police
information about the bribe. Aharonson and Daniel are also suspected of
being beneficiaries of the bribe through commissions they took as its
facilitators.
The bribery case in Israel is part of a worldwide scandal at Siemens involving $1.4 billion in bribes to facilitate deals.
I've discussed what makes Israelis behave so selfishly here, among other places.
In any event, one cannot help but wonder whether there is a connection between money taken from Iran and money used to bribe Israel. Yes, Israel, because in case you've forgotten, Israel Electric Corporation is a government company.
A new low: Former Prime Minister Olmert gets six years for bribery
In a country where a former President is sitting in jail for sexual assault, you might have thought we could not go much lower. Well, we just might have. As many of you probably know, former Prime Minister Ehud Korruption Olmert has been sentenced to six years in jail for accepting bribes in connection with the construction of the Holyland colossus on the southern edge of Jerusalem.
Olmert going jail barely scratches the surface of the rot and corruption among Israel's top officials. I want to show you two small points in the article linked above rather than going through the whole thing (which I am too busy to do anyway - those of us Israelis who are honest work hard for a living), in order to give you some idea why Israel's ruling classes are so corrupt.
Experts had been estimating that Olmert would likely get at least a
few years in prison, and that his being prime minister would not get him
special treatment.
Still, on a separate prior and less serious
conviction in his July 2012 Jerusalem corruption trial, Olmert received
only community service with the court noting his service to the state as
one of the reasons for leniency.
Usually, elites like Olmert get off the hook no matter what they do. It's only when the corruption hits the judges over the head that they feel they must act.
The judge added that Olmert was an extremely talented man that made a
great contribution to the state through his public service. Rozen said,
however, that his hands were tied by law to certain set punishment
guidelines without discretion.
Rozen said that Olmert was guilty
of "moral turpitude," meaning that he would not be allowed to reenter
politics for at least seven years.
Why do the judge's hands have to be tied in order for him to do the right thing?
And notice that they're already counting the years, months and days until Olmert can return to politics. For those of you who lived through the '70's in the US, can you imagine the voters ever electing Richard Nixon to another office? Spiro Agnew? In most of the western world, when you're convicted of corruption or bribery, your career in politics is over. Not in Israel. And until that changes, we Israelis will continue to be victimized by corrupt politicians like Olmert.
Finally: Ehud Korruption Olmert convicted on bribery charges
It's been a long time coming, but it's finally happened. Former Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert has been convicted of bribery in what's known as the Holyland case. The Holyland is the eyesore that overlooks the Malcha mall on the right side of the Begin expressway in southern Jerusalem. Eyesore because what was supposed to be a 25,000 square foot project became a colossal 311,000 square foot project due to bribes paid to Olmert and others.
But first, let's go to the videotape.
Completing nearly two years of what may be looked back on as the
trial of the century, the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday convicted
former prime minister Ehud Olmert on charges of bribery.
With
a thundering ruling that will shake the country, Judge David Rozen
also convicted former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, former Bank
Hapoalim Chairman Dan Dankner, Olmert's former chief-of-staff Shula
Zaken and, in total, 10 out of 13 individual defendants (3 defendants
are corporations.)
Judge David Rozen said that Olmert lied in court. The court cited
Zaken's total devotion to Olmert as proof that he had to know about all
of the bribes she was receiving from main state witness Shmuel Duchner.
Rozen said that Zaken even got convicted in the prior Jerusalem corruption trial rather than testify against Olmert.
On
the NIS 500,000 in bribes given to Yossi Olmert, Ehud's brother, the
court completely rejected Ehud's story that he did not know that Duchner
gave the money to Yossi. The court added that there was no reason for
Duchner to give Yossi money except at Ehud's request since they did not
know each other.
Rozen said that Duchner was always careful to
make sure sponsors like Olmert knew he had given bribes to secure their
help with the Holyland project.
Olmert was convicted of some of
the most serious bribery charges including large sums. Absent Rozen
being very sympathetic since Olmert is a former prime minister (and
Olmert did get this sympathy at his Jerusalem trial) he could be looking at serious jail time. Sentencing arguments in the case were scheduled to begin on April 28.
The judge completely rejected Zaken's story that money she got from Duchner was not bribes, but part of a romance between them.
Rozen
called Zaken a "central mover" in the bribery scheme, telling the
state that he is not convinced he wants to accept an easy sentence for
plea bargain. He added that in light of his conviction of Olmert
already, it is unclear that her evidence is a "revolution."
...
Though the state originally rejected Zaken's new evidence as
insufficient, at the start of last week, Zaken produced to the state a
series of cassette tapes which the state said provide a "serious
suspicion" of obstruction of justice and witness tampering against
Olmert.
By moving forward with the verdict, the plea bargain
reportedly could require Zaken to cooperate with the state in filing a
new indictment against Olmert for the obstruction of justice charges –
though the state may call it a day having gotten a conviction.
In
the Holyland trial, Olmert was accused of accepting over NIS 1.5
million in bribes (out of around NIS 9 million given to public officials
in total), either directly or through Zaken or his brother Yossi to
smooth over various legal and zoning obstacles. The allegations relate
to the 1993-mid 2000s period while Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and
Minister of Infrastructure, Trade and Industry.
The prosecution's closing arguments already significantly backed off of the NIS 1.5 million number to around NIS 800,000.
...
With a conviction, Olmert's career could be over and he could even face jail time.
Judge Rosen announced the acquittal of real estate men Shimon Galon
and Amnon Safran, as well as former Israel Lands Authority head Yaakov
Efrati. According to law, acquittals need to be announced at the start
of the decision.
Other defendants include former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupoliansky,
former city engineer Uri Sheetrit, and businessman Hillel Cherney. All
in all, there were 13 people and three companies on the defendants'
bench in this case.
The judge noted that the testimony of state witness Dachner was
detailed but also contradictory. He preferred Dachner's testimony to
Olmert's, however, and it was the key to the conviction. Olmert "tried
to besmirch the witness, even at the price of lying to the court," the
judge added.
"Hundreds of thousands of shekels were transferred to public
leaders,” wrote Rosen. “The dirty money was given in order to advance
the business of the people who gave the money. Every defendant has his
own corruption case. Dachner came up with the idea and carried out the
bribery deals. In the court, he answered the lawyers' questions as best
he could.”
Dachner gave hundreds of thousands of shekels in bribes to Zaken, the
judge determined. He also "bought Olmert's services," Judge Rosen
wrote. Dachner gave Olmert's brother, Yossi, 500,000 shekels, as a favor
to Ehud Olmert, the judge found. Yossi Olmert had been a successful and
famous academician before he was plunged into debt and left Israel for
the United States.
Rosen also had some devastating comments on Israel's political system.
"We're talking about corrupt and filthy practices," Judge David Rosen saidwhile reading out the verdict, his remarks playing out across all Israelimedia.
He also spoke of a "corrupt political system which has decayed over theyears... and in which hundreds of thousands of shekels were transferred toelected officials".
Rosen also said the former premier had lied to the court in a bid to"blacken the name" of the state's witness.
Olmert reportedly sat expressionless throughout the verdict.
The reading of the verdict is ongoing and has been followed live by
Israeli media since it began, with reporters flitting in and out of the
courtroom to report on the developments.
The sides are expected to file appeals to the Supreme Court.
If Olmert's career is over, the system will by definition be cleaner.
The secretary of former Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert was sentenced to four months of community service on Wednesday, after being convicted in one of the biggest public service scandals in Israel's history. Shula Zaken was convicted of using her position as Olmert's secretary to influence appointments at the Income Tax Authority for the benefit of her brother, Yoram Karshi by brokering bribes. But pending appeals on both sides, she won't be spending a single day in jail. She can just volunteer for four months of community service.
In May, the court found Zaken guilty of abusing her position as bureau chief in the office of then-finance minister Ehud Olmert between October 2005 and March 2006 by brokering bribes to advance the personal interests of her brother, Yoram Karshi.
Judge Haim Li-Ran wrote that, while Zaken had breached the public trust, she was, at the end of the day, a secretary.
What the.... She may have been a secretary but she sure knew which buttons to press and how to press them.
State prosecutors had sought jail time for Zaken because she betrayed the public that put its confidence in her.
Zaken was convicted of fraud and breach of trust offenses in February in regard to the Tax Authority affair, one of the most serious cases of public-sector corruption in the state’s history.
Her trial was held separately from that of the other defendants in the affair. Three have already been sentenced to prison terms by the Central District Court in Petah Tikva.
In convicting Zaken earlier this year, Judge Haim Li-Ran said her testimony before the court and statements to police had been “packed with inaccuracies” and that her version of events did “not hold water.”
Zaken faces charges in two other corruption cases. She is currently standing trial alongside Olmert in the Jerusalem District Court where she has been indicted in connection with the Rishon Tours and Talansky affairs. That trial is in its closing arguments phase.
Rishon Tours is a claim that Olmert double and triple billed trips abroad and pocketed the extra cash. Talansky involves a claim by Olmert's laundryman, Morris Talansky, that he gave massive amounts of cash to Olmert in return for services rendered. Talansky, who lives in the US, has not been charged.
Zaken was also indicted in connection with the Holyland real estate corruption scandal.
The related trial opened this February in the Tel Aviv District Court.
The 'justice system' in this country is simply beyond absurd....
Surprise: Countries that don't recognize Israel are mostly corrupt
There are 36 countries in the world whose governments refuse to have relations with Israel, and I'm sure you'll all be shocked to learn that on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being most corrupt and 10 being cleanest, those 36 countries have an average Corruption Perceptions Index of 3.16.
As it happens, the countries that refuse to have diplomatic relations with Israel are, by and large, among the most corrupt in the world, some having a cleanliness score of no more than 1 or 1.5 out of ten. The average rating for these refusal countries is 3.16. (The US has a score of 7.1, Israel 5.8).
It took a long time but former Prime Minister Ehud K. Olmert has finally been indicted along with his former secretary and the man who succeeded him as Mayor of Jerusalem. Olmert is charged with accepting bribes.
Tel Aviv District Prosecutors charged former prime minister Ehud Olmert with receiving bribes in the Holyland affair on Thursday, the Justice Ministry announced.
Olmert was charged with accepting bribes in order to advance certain construction projects while he served as mayor of Jerusalem.
Charges were also filed against Olmert's bureau chief Shula Zaken and former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski in the affair.
...
The former prime minister was questioned under caution three times in June and July of 2010 over suspicions that he accepted around a million shekels in bribes from real estate developers in exchange for supporting the Holyland construction project in southern Jerusalem.
During questioning, Olmert was shown a series of documents allegedly linking him to bribery, fraud and abusing public office during his tenures as Jerusalem mayor and minister of trade, industry and labor. He has denied all of the suspicions against him.
I'll believe that Olmert is going to jail when I see it. He may be the slimiest politician that this country has ever seen.
The only way out of Gaza is to bribe. No, not Israel, and not Egypt either. You have to bribe Hamas.
Let's go to the videotape.
But don't expect that to be taken up by the UN.
Here's a Gazan blogger who discusses how you get out of Gaza. Note that he's talking about going to Egypt, not to Israel, where if you're going for medical treatment you are let through without bribes - at least without paying bribes to the Israelis.
Let me sequence what you need to do if you want to travel from Gaza to anywhere else;
1- You have to go the registration office in Gaza at least 3 months before the date you wish to travel on. For example, if you want to travel on October, you have to register on July. Why? Because the Great Pharaohs allow only 300 people to leave daily and the number of people wishing to leave for several reasons is huge, so there is no empty place for you before October.
2- After waiting for 3 months, you go to Rafah gate. There, you would be really really really really really really lucky if you made it in your first try; people usually go 3 or 4 days in a raw, hoping to get in and not everyone crosses in the end as thousands are waiting for their turn.
3- If you made it and crossed the gate, you’ll have to wait in the Palestinian hall for at least 2 hours until you get your passport stamped.
4- Then you get in the bus and wait for some more.
5- Then you cross to the Egyptian hall and wait for them to call your name and stamp your passport. But guess what? They don’t stamp all the passports they receive. Almost 50 out of every 300 people will be returned to Gaza; depends on the mood of the person stamping the passport.
Britain bribed/paid Libya to let its nationals go?
The Brits apparently just love paying off the Libyans. Sky News is reporting that Britain paid Libya to allow its nationals to leave the country. The British Foreign Office has denied the report.
Let's go to the videotape.
But a spokesperson for the Foreign Office (FCO) categorically denied any bribes were paid to Libyan officials.
The FCO said in a statement: "Officials at Tripoli airport charge fees for services, such as aircraft handling.
"These charges are applied to all countries and carriers seeking to fly in or out of Tripoli airport.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
