Israeli police recommend charges against Prime Minister Olmert
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Because it was expected, the announcement that the Israeli police are recommending charges against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over corruption and abuse of power is not provoking serious controversy. The police are asking that attorney general Menahem Mazuz bring charges against the prime minister on two of the cases for which he has been investigated: the "Rishon Tours" case - in which the prime minister is alleged to have taken his family on vacation at the expense of the state - and the "Talansky affair", in which he is thought to have received illegal funding for 15 years from Jewish-American financier Morris Talansky.
Today, Army Radio reported that charges are also sought for Uri Messer, the prime minister's former business partner.
Olmert has remained silent, but his lawyers have protested. They have stressed that the recommendations by the police have no real value, since the decision to indict is made only by the attorney general, and they recalled a statement by the supreme court against the habit of publicizing the results of police investigations. ""The police have no choice but to recommend an indictment", says Amir Dan, Olmert's media adviser, "since they have to justify the fact that they brought down a prime minister in office".
The move by the police, according to Haaretz, although it does not accelerate Olmert's resignation, which has already been announced, was prepared carefully, and in a "not entirely surprising" way. The progressive Israeli newspaper especially highlights how, although the decision of the police was made in the afternoon, the news was released at eight o'clock in the evening, when television audiences are at their peak.
For its part, the conservative Jerusalem Post reports the statement of a "source close to" Olmert, according to whom the prime minister will remain in office even if the attorney general decides to indict him. "Olmert", according to the source, "wants to remain prime minister until a new government is formed, both in the case of political elections and in the case that it is formed by whoever wins the Kadima primaries".
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