World Jewish News

Photo by Ariel Jerozolimski (JPost.com)

Olmert: 'Open season on me'

Former prime minister Ehud Olmert attacked the authorities ahead of his testimony on the "Rishon Tours" corruption case on Thursday.
"For over a month, they have declared open season on me, a brutal, cruel, unmerciful witch-hunt, of the sort that there has never been in Israel," Olmert said in a statement to reporters before entering the courtroom. He refused to specify who exactly declared it "open season."
The former prime minister and his ex-bureau chief Shula Zaken are suspected of multiple-billing for the same trips and lying in travel reports. Olmert is also under investigation for accepting bribes to promote the Holyland project in Jerusalem.
Olmert also denied accepting bribes. "I have never been offered nor have I ever received bribes from anyone, not directly and not indirectly, not in this and not in any other case - at no point in my life!"
"How is it possible that a police officer would say such groundless, baseless things in a court of law?" he wondered. "It cannot be that such a hunt can be undertaken by the authorities that have the law behind them, while their actions violate human rights laws."
Olmert's trial resumed Thursday morning after a month-long break, during which the Holyland scandal broke. It was decided that the "Rishon Tours" case would be heard before Holyland, due to the new evidence.
The heads of organizations that Olmert turned to for double or even triple funding for his trips abroad, including Friends of the IDF, will testify on Thursday.

JPost.com