Jerusalem
01 August 2008
Israeli police have questioned Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for a fourth
time in a corruption scandal. Robert Berger reports from the VOA bureau
in Jerusalem.
Investigators presented documents to Mr. Olmert
allegedly showing that as a public official, he double and triple-billed institutions and charities for trips abroad and pocketed the
difference.
An American Jewish businessman has also testified that he
gave Mr. Olmert envelopes stuffed with cash to support a lavish
lifestyle, including fancy hotels and cigars and first-class airfare.
Police say these things took place when Mr. Olmert was a Cabinet minister and mayor of Jerusalem.
The
prime minister denies any wrongdoing. But when his own Kadima party
decided on primaries to replace him in September, he succumbed to the
pressure and announced that he would resign after the vote.
Jerusalem
Post editor David Horowitz says Mr. Olmert's fall from power began when
an official inquiry described his handling of the Lebanon War two years
ago as a failure.
"I don't think the Israeli public is saying,
'Oh, we know that you're guilty.' I think the Israeli public didn't
trust him after the war and felt that he couldn't do the job properly,
because he was facing so many legal scandals," said Horowitz.
"The
public has been pressuring him for awhile to step down, from all the
corruption allegations, and I think he's made the right choice and the
right choice for the country by stepping down," said a Jerusalem
resident.
Israeli media say police hope to wind up the
investigation in a month and will recommend an indictment against the
prime minister.