MK Eldad: Olmert Is Running The Country Like A Crime Boss

MK Eldad: Olmert is running the country like a crime boss

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/971174.html

By Haaretz Service
4/2/2008

MK Arieh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying that the only reason he has been able to gain power was his corrupt manner of rule.

Responding to a Channel 2 report earlier Wednesday on new evidence suggesting Olmert's cronyism while he was serving as Industry, Trade and Labor Minister, Eldad said "He who doesn't understand the secret to Olmert's survival learned tonight how he turned his public service into a goldmine of political appointments and a job making market."

"Olmert surrounded himself with a network of partners in crime and he runs the country as though her were a crime boss," Eldad said. "If [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz continues to drag his feet on the investigation against the prime minister, he will eventually admit that his own appointment was a product of the same scheme."

On Wednesday evening, Channel 2 revealed new correspondence in the affair surrounding alleged cronyism by Olmert while he headed an investment center operated by the Industry and Trade Ministry. This correspondence could serve as evidence in the case against the prime minister.

One of the individuals mentioned in the correspondence is Olmert's Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel. "Ehud hello," Yehezkel wrote, in an instance when he wanted to appoint Zion Turjeman, the deputy director general of the Jerusalem municipality, to the post of vice president of finance and operations at the Israel Employment Service. "I wanted to remind you to speak with Raanan, and ensure that the appointment of the district managers in the Israel Employment Service is done only through you."

In another instance addressed in the correspondence, Olmert and Yehezkel allegedly tried to create a position for Itzik Mihcaeli, a Likud Party activist. The two tried to make sure he was appointed to a position in the HMO Leumit, and again, the correspondence reveals the speeded up process to appoint Michaeli. In a telephone conversation with Channel 2, Michaeli denied the allegations, saying "no one promoted me."

The Prime Minister's Office issued a response to the Channel 2 report, saying "these claims are old, a large portion of the details and names have no correlation to political appointments, and this is not even about people who are recognized as politicians or have anything to do with politics."

"Regarding the rest, it is not a secret that all the bureaus of former Likud ministers during that time received requests for jobs and assistance. These requests were referred to the appropriate and relevant channels? The large majority of the names mentioned [in the report] didn't even get appointed to any position," the statement added.

At Olmert's office, his aides said "those who know the cabinet secretary know that he is a decent and honest public servant, who has worked toward putting a stop to the political phenomena that stemmed from the behavior of certain people in the Likud Central Committee, and he even initiated the establishment of the Shamgar inquiry commission in order to outline the rules of ethics for government ministers so that those phenomena don't recur. The commission is set to complete its investigation in the coming days and submit its findings to the prime minister."