Sources close to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claim that the police, along with the State Attorney’s office, are doing everything they can to bring down Olmert’s government. The sources charge that the multiple investigations against the P.M. are nothing more than a reaction to Olmert’s “crusade” against the legal establishment.
The statements from Olmert aides came after news of yet another investigation against him, announced on Friday.
In the latest scandal, the State Attorney's Office has accused Olmert of having multiple charities and institutions pay for the same work-related trips abroad and then using the excess funds to pay for private trips for himself and his family. According to allegations, Olmert misappropriated thousands of dollars of funding from a range of organizations, including Yad Vashem, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Soldiers' Welfare Association, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The Prime Minister himself lashed out Saturday night at the latest round of charges, calling them “distorted” and “despicable.”
“The attempts to link my family to this affair are despicable,” said Olmert to reporters before leaving on a trip to the Mediterranean Forum in Paris.
The prime minister’s remarks suggested that the police had leaked the details of the investigation in a biased manner. Hiss office already had accused State investigators of bias in their handling of his cases.
The police and the Justice Ministry released a joint statement, on Friday, saying that they had widened a corruption investigation against Olmert, based on new evidence that the P.M. was defrauding private charities and state institutions by taking duplicate funding from them and spending the profits on family vacations.
"The investigation and the publications surrounding it, as well as the reports and leaks that emerged shortly after the investigation began, constitute a grave breach of acceptable norms, and deviate from everything that is acceptable and expected in a democratic regime," Olmert insisted, moments before boarding his flight to France.
"I was shocked by the distorted reports on behalf of law enforcement entities,” the P.M. continued. “The only result will be the weakening of the public trust in law enforcement bodies."
Olmert went on to blast the latest charges leveled at him, saying that investigator’s attempts to link the investigation to "favors for my family is reprehensible."
The P.M. defended his association with the various charities he is accused of defrauding. "These are institutions that I worked to advance and I invested immense energy into raising funds and I believe I made a significant contribution to them. Therefore, precisely against this backdrop, the exploitation [of these allegations] in this way was particularly hurtful."
The growing corruption scandals surrounding Olmert threaten to topple his leadership of the state. His own Kadima Party has shown signs of weakening confidence in the P.M., and Kadima primaries are expected to be held in September to choose his replacement.