RAMALLAH: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned for the third time yesterday about the hundreds of thousands of dollars he allegedly received over 15 years from Jewish-American millionaire Morris Talansky. The interview comes amid heightened wrangling between the police and Olmert’s associates.
Israeli police have unveiled stunning new allegations against Olmert, accusing him of getting multiple sources to pay for identical trips abroad so he could pocket the difference.
The new suspicions could make it even tougher for the embattled Israeli leader to hang on to his job and pursue peacemaking with the Palestinians.
Police officials said yesterday that Olmert is suspected of having illicitly taken some $100,000 by deceiving multiple sources into thinking they were paying for the same trip.
The revelations indicated the corruption scandal was larger than originally thought and the suspicions were the gravest brought in the case since Olmert was accused of accepting illicit funds in May. The new accusations were expected to make Olmert’s fight for political survival much more difficult.
— With input from agencies
