Hebrew daily "Ma'ariv" reported today that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert claimed in earlier questioning by Israel Police investigators that the envelopes he received from US businessman Morris Talansky contained "only a few hundred dollars". Talansky said in his advance testimony that the amounts totaled thousands of dollars. Olmert is due to be questioned on Friday for the third time in the affair.
Friday's questioning is scheduled to take two hours. Investigators will try to verify Olmert's claims with the evidentiary material gathered so far. This will include preliminary material and some of the findings of the investigation currently underway in the US.
Talansky is due to return to Israel in a few days. Next Thursday, Olmert's lawyers are scheduled to cross examine Talansky on his advance testimony given to the courts.
Media Watch International director Sharon Tzur, who is considered very close to Olmert, was questioned by Israeli police in the US in the Talansky case. Olmert's aides hope that Tzur, a 36-year old Israeli, will support Olmert's version of events and undermine Talansky's testimony.
Talansky said in his testimony that Tzur was present at one of the incidents when he gave Olmert a cash-filled envelope. Tzur apparently said that the incident never happened.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 9, 2008
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