Uri Messer, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s former law partner, told police investigators that he held $350,000 in cash in his safe for Olmert, not $150,000 as has been reported to date.

The funds that were not unused he explained  were passed to Olmert’s personal assistant Shula Zaken in mid-2006, shortly after the state comptroller launched one of the investigations against Olmert regarding alleged illegal activities pertaining to investments.

One of the questions that will be posed to the prime minister is if the funds were given in anticipation of political favors, pointing to his abusing his ministerial post. Police for the time begin are viewing the sizeable sums of cash as payoffs and bribes.

While Messer did tell police of the large sum, he is not totally cooperative and is not spelling out how the funds reached the prime minister and if all or exactly how much was intended for him. There are yet many unanswered questions.

This was the larger fund that Olmert kept in addition to a smaller petty cash source, fed by Talansky and others like him. At one point, $23,000 was converted to new Israeli shekels and given to a close friend of Olmert, Avraham Hirschson, the former finance minister who last week was indicted on charges of fraud, accepting bribes, and breech of trust among other charges. He is suspected of making off with over NIS 2.5 million.

At present, police have learned of $150,000 given to Olmert from Talansky; $300,000 that was taken from Talansky’s accounts for Olmert; $300,000 that came from a currently unknown source to cover the earlier $300,000 taken from Talansky.

The talk of envelopes containing sums of cash is actually the tip of the iceberg and police are more concerned with what appears to have been a major operation with Olmert in his different local and national government capacities treated himself to enormous sums of money.

At present, Talansky is just a piece in the puzzle that points to a major money operation involving enormous sums, bribery and other illegal activities. Messer does appear to be turning into a major state witness against the prime minister and police are seeking to understand if Olmert did indeed act on behalf of supporters who at different times gave him large sums of money.

At present it appears the prime minister filled his pockets generously in return for using the power of his various government positions to assist others, at times, contrary to state interests. (Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)