Olmert slams 'witch hunt' against him

"If this is true," he wondered, "how could it be that no one came to me for three weeks? How can a police officer appear in court and say such baseless and unfounded things?"

"What's happening here is a violation of all of the basic rules of what is acceptable under the rule of law," he went on. "It has reached a level of extremism at which there are people who are saying that it doesn't even matter if he's acquitted or if nothing is proven in a court of law. He's guilty and he's finished."

Then, before entering the court he told reporters: "I'll tell you why I'm calm. You can't prove what never happened."

Witness: Donors have begun canceling

The first witness to testify at the trial Thursday was the director of the international department of the Akim Association for the Mentally Handicapped, Daniel Baram. He said that if the charges were true, they were "a nightmare," and that he had already received phone calls canceling donations.

Akim is one of the organizations Olmert allegedly billed for his trips abroad. "This implicates Akim Israel in an impossible turmoil of unreliability towards its donors, and it doesn't matter if he's guilty or not," Baram said in court.

Before his testimony, the prosecution presented its case and said various organizations were cheated by Olmert into paying for the same trip. "The bills contained false data about flight routes," said Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel.

"In many cases the organizations found out about this before paying but paid anyway because they had no choice. This was carried out with the defendant's awareness and constitutes fraud, tax evasion, and false reports to the State Comptroller." He told reporters the prosecution had evidence that Olmert knew about the offenses.

But attorney Navit Negev, of the defense, rejected the claim. "Olmert, in contrast to other public officials, worked voluntarily and unwaveringly for the organizations and made himself available to them without cost in Israel and without expenses abroad, because he felt it was his mission," she said.

Other organization heads to testify

Olmert has also become implicated in the Holyland bribe scandal, to which he denies any connection. "I was never offered and have never received a bribe from anybody, directly or indirectly, in this case or in any other case, at any time in my life," he said.

"I want to go on and tell you the meaning of this hunt, which has affected me, my health, my family, my wife, and my children," he said.

Olmert also called reports that he had transferred ill-gotten funds to his debt-ridden brother in the US "a tall tale."

"When I read these things I think to myself that beyond the natural anger, beyond the feeling of pain and offense, how low can this go?"

Olmert's trial has been renewed following a month-long hiatus, which was implemented following the Holyland accusations. During the recess the prosecution decided to move the testimonies around, so that the witnesses who are also related to the Holyland affair will testify at the end of the trial rather than the beginning.