Olmert aides say new fraud suspicions a coup attempt
Source close to prime minister responds angrily to allegations that non-profit groups funded Olmert's trips abroad, says 'this is an attempt to oust a governing prime minister.' Olmert tells his associates, 'I never took a penny from them...I'm being turned into a criminal'
Olmert's associates harshly criticized the police, noting that the prime minister had worked for many years to raise funds totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars for the non-profit organizations associated with the affair.
The government bodies that allegedly funded such trips include the Association for the Soldiers of Israel, the Industry, Commerce, and Employment Ministry, the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
"Olmert did not take money from these bodies," an aide to the prime minister said. "All he took was $2,000 for expenses, which did not even cover his expenses during the trips he took in order to raise funds for the associations."
Olmert himself, who was hurt and surprised by the new investigation, said over the weekend in closed forums that he had worked all his life to help these associations and to collect donations for them.
"I never took a penny from them," the prime minister stressed in talks with his associates. "I performed for these bodies, I collected donations, and all I got in return was a recovery of expenses. Now I'm being turned into a criminal."
A source close to Olmert noted that "he is beginning to have enough" following the publication of the new affair. The source noted, however, that "the prime minister has no plans to resign."
Olmert's aides denied the police claim that investigators presented the prime minister with evidence that he had taken hundreds of thousands of shekels into his pocket.
"We are talking about six or seven flight tickets to Greece, at a total sum of some thousands of dollars," a source close to the prime minister said. "These tickets were paid through points accumulated by the prime minister over the years."
'Interrogation had nothing to do with Talansky'
The sources also expressed their anger over the fact that the interrogation, which was presented as an urgent one before US businessman Morris Talansky's cross examination next week, had nothing to do with the alleged bribery affair involving key witness Talansky.
Attorney Eli Zohar, Olmert's lawyer, had turned to Major-General Yohanan Danino, head of the police's investigations branch, and asked him to delay the questioning session until the prime minister returns from his trip to France. Danino refused, explaining that the affair was closely related to Talansky's interrogation.
"The prime minister was not asked one question about Talansky," an aide to Olmert said. "It eventually turned out that what Danino said had nothing to do with the actual interrogation."
Politicians asked themselves over the weekend what would be Olmert's next move following the publication of the new affair. A source close to the prime minister said that "at this stage there is no plan to take any dramatic or drastic step."
The prime minister's associates estimated, however, that he would announce by the end of July whether he plans to run in the Kadima primary elections, saying he would probably decide against this move.
"Up to now we had a feeling that he was preparing for the race," said a source close to Olmert in Kadima. "Now we have a strong feeling that he won't compete."
