Sunday, January 08, 2006

The other side of Ehud Olmert

Newsday discusses the other side of Ehud Olmert.

Regarding his time as mayor of the holy city:

"His administration were repeatedly accused of corruption in official complaints, comptroller reports and, once, in a court indictment. He was indicted in 1996 but eventually found not guilty of fraud, forgery and breach of trust in a campaign scandal involving illegal contributions."

There is more:

He came under much criticism as mayor, particularly for sparking riots by Palestinians by digging a tunnel under their holy sites and for the collapse of a banquet hall in 2001 that killed 23 people. City engineers allegedly had looked the other way at shoddy construction.

The better side:

Jerusalem's many religious groups had a much more positive view. And it is generally acknowledged that Olmert was successful in improving the city's infrastructure, including huge new highways, the renovation of the massive central bus station and the construction of a light rail transportation system.

Well it seems as mayor he played to his constituents and was involved with some very corrupt individuals.He seems to be a politician's politician...someone who checks to see where the political wind is blowing. Hmmmm...

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1 comment:

Soccer Dad said...

The 1996 corruption charge was thrown out. Another example of prosecutorial overreach by Rabin appoint AG, Michael ben Yair. Charges were also brought against Yaakov Ne'eman and Raful Eitan, the cases ended in acquittal or were laughed out of court.
The 1996 riots, like the 2000 riots, were orchestrated by Arafat. Usually Netanyahu is blamed for them.
I'm no fan of Olmert's these days, but at least 2 of these charges are bogus.