Before the war broke out, the leading news story in Israel was the bribery investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Morris Talansky, an Orthodox business from Long Island, had flown to Israel back in May to testify that he had given Olmert about $150,000 in campaign contributions, mostly in the form of "cash-stuffed envelopes". At the time, Israeli police officials shared this information with the FBI. New York Magazine reports that a federal grand jury is now considering indicting Talansky for evading taxes, laundering money, and bribing a foreign official. Talansky's lawyer, Bradley Simon, is apparently complaining that it is "patently unfair" to use Talansky's own testimony against him. (Uh- since when? It's called a confession, Mr. Simon. And if it wasn't coerced- and this one wasn't- it's totally admissible.)
The most ironic part of this story? If Talansky is indicted, his attorney said that Olmert would be a critical witness in the case. So after having his buddy Morris fly to Israel to rat him out, Olmert will have to fly to the U.S. to return the favor. Ahhh, there's nothing like true friendship.
The most ironic part of this story? If Talansky is indicted, his attorney said that Olmert would be a critical witness in the case. So after having his buddy Morris fly to Israel to rat him out, Olmert will have to fly to the U.S. to return the favor. Ahhh, there's nothing like true friendship.
4 comments:
way to keep up with the news! here we have forgotten completely about talansky. he is way under the radar!
Rafi-
Well, you've got much more important things to worry about!
Talansky? He's, like, SO 2008...
:-)
IMHO, the most ironic part is the timing. Although everyone agrees that the current war is more than justified (to understate the case greatly), there's a widespread feeling that some politicians may have allowed personal considerations to enter their decision to go to war at this exact time. In our illustrious PM's case, the sense is that he may be trying to salvage his reputation. So, it's ironic that this latest development occurred davka during the war...
Good news!
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