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Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. (Nir Keidar)
Last update - 22:48 13/07/2008
Attorney General: It is not my job to oust prime ministers
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Sevice
Tags: Rishon Tours, Tzipi Livni 

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Sunday evening said that he had no intention of declaring the prime minister incapacitated because it is not the attorney general's job to "appoint or dismiss prime ministers."

Responding to mounting pressure to declare Prime Minister Ehud Olmert incapacitated in light of several corruption investigations currently underway against him, Mazuz said "the continuation of the prime minister's term is in the hands of the political system, not the attorney general or the judicial system."

Speaking at a conference on political corruption in Jerusalem on Sunday, the attorney general addressed the many corruption allegations the prime minister has been facing recently, including the most recent affair in which Olmert was accused of having defrauded several charities as well as state institutions by double billing travel costs and funding private family trips with the surplus. He is also currently being investigated on allegations he illicitly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Jewish American millionaire Morris Talansky over the course of 15 years.
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"The question whether the prime minister is capable of continuing to functioning in his post is a legitimate question," Mazuz said, adding that a government that doesn't have the public's trust can't make difficult decisions, and furthermore, it can't implement them.

Mazuz also rejected claims by Olmert's associates that a statement released Friday by the police and the justice ministry alleging that Olmert stole funds was specifically aimed to harm the prime minister, Army Radio reported Sunday. "When an investigation is launched into the conduct of a public figure, an official statement is released. This statement is necessary - it is our duty to the public," Mazuz said, adding that "in a democratic state, a criminal investigation cannot be conducted in the dark."

Earlier Sunday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni expressed dissatisfaction with Olmert's recent conduct in the graft investigations against him, and said she did not need reports of the latest corruption affair to make up her mind about him.

The foreign minister told reporters at the Union for the Mediterranean summit in Paris that her opinion on the prime minister was shaped long before the suspicions first broke out publicly on Friday.

"I did not need the latest affair in order to determine my position," Livni told reporters. "As you all know, we are taking action in the matter, and change is already underway."

Asked whether she agreed with Olmert that law authorities are exaggerating the probe against him, Livni simply said: No.

Meanwhile, Olmert's four children responded publicly to the graft allegations against him for the first time on Sunday, saying they had been promised the funds for their family vacations had been paid for directly by their father.

In a first response, Michal, Dana, Shaul and Ariel Olmert wrote: "Our father explicitly explained that the plane tickets were a present from him, paid from his pocket."

According to the suspicions, Olmert's travel agency, Rishon Tours, allegedly sent invoices to each organization who funded the same flights, as though each had been the only contributor.

Each body then had its own receipt that it had funded the trip, and the surplus money - apparently a substantial amount - was allegedly deposited in a private bank account in Olmert's name, which was handled by the same travel agency.

The suspicion is that these funds were then used to pay for private trips abroad for Olmert and his family. On some occasions, Olmert's wife and children traveled on their own. Police say Olmert amassed close to $100,000 in the private bank account over the course of many years.

Police sources say Olmert told investigators that his family's trips were funded through the use of flight credits, or points, that were accrued and credited to him by the various airlines. Yet, police counter that Olmert did not accumulate enough points to cover the cost of all his family's trips during this time. Police say the Olmert family frequently used double invoices to fund their trips abroad.

The prime minister on Saturday denounced the fresh accusations against him as distorted and despicable.

Related articles:
  • Olmert: Reports I defrauded charities are distorted, despicable
  • ANALYSIS / However we look at 'Olmert Tours' affair, woe to us
  • Double-billing / Frequent liar
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      1.   POLICE IS MISTAKEN! 12:34  |  Robert 13/07/08
      2.   CHILDREN OF OLMERT ALSO MISTAKEN! 13:00  |  Robert 13/07/08
      3.   frequent flyer points 13:40  |  michael cohen 13/07/08
      4.   Find the evidence !! 14:03  |  arnie 13/07/08
      5.   Olmert 14:09  |  Mordecai 13/07/08
      6.   A leaky bucket can never hold much water. 15:19  |  Stephen. 13/07/08
      7.   Travel Tickets for Knesset Members 15:36  |  Rozz 13/07/08
      8.   bonus points? Bull^ht 16:11  |  moshe 13/07/08
      9.   THEIF 16:11  |  NG 13/07/08
      10.   Stealing from Yad VaShem 16:43  |  JB 13/07/08
      11.   Olmert is a lying crook, Indict him already 17:49  |  Dish It Out 13/07/08
      12.   This Is Getting To Be Like... 17:52  |  Yosemite 13/07/08
      13.   Are they children 18:21  |  jackie 13/07/08
      14.   VERY SAD 18:52  |  JOJO 13/07/08
      15.   Note to Livni:Your corruption is showing also 19:01  |  Arie 13/07/08
      16.   the whole family living off the dole..life is wonderful 19:52  |  JL 13/07/08
      17.   Livni is not even 1%.... 20:13  |  Michael Durson 13/07/08
      18.   #9 - some info for you .. 20:23  |  redmike 13/07/08
      19.   Disgusting shameless bunch of vultures fighting for rot 20:25  |  Ulf 13/07/08
      20.   Do you tell your kids you paid for the tickets before a trip? 20:28  |  redmike 13/07/08
      21.   #10 - Olmert is detested because he brought death and shame 20:31  |  redmike 13/07/08
      22.   #4 - yes the police do have the receipts .. 20:34  |  redmike 13/07/08
      23.   So what are you doing in his government, hypo? 20:38  |  Pervert 13/07/08
      24.   Olmert Lied to his own Children 20:49  |  Steve 13/07/08
      25.   What happened to The New Jerusalem Foundation 20:57  |  The Threadmill 13/07/08
      26.   Livni: Winning by default 21:38  |  Natallie Durson 13/07/08
      27.   Olmert`s Tarnished Image is Detrimental to Israel. 21:55  |  Dolly 13/07/08
      28.   If Ehud and Aliza would betray their country 22:41  |  fred 13/07/08
      29.   #2 Your contributions are used by all these bastards 23:28  |  Ulf 13/07/08
      30.   To Steve 3 24 - Olmert`s `children` are no longer children 23:34  |  netta 13/07/08
      31.   Timing matters 00:30  |  Joseph 14/07/08
      32.   Reply to # 20 Do you tell your kids? 00:34  |  Joe 14/07/08
      33.   AG Mazuz is Lying 00:36  |  Rabbi Yakov Lazaros 14/07/08
      34.   # 7 frequent flyer miles 00:38  |  Sherlock Holmes 14/07/08
      35.   An idea of what the apathethic Israelis could do 00:41  |  AY 14/07/08
      36.   #33- you don`t indict when there is "probable" course 07:15  |  redmike 14/07/08
      37.   #32 - you might tell your kids if someone else paid 07:21  |  redmike 14/07/08
      38.   #27 Olmerts image is but a mere reflection of the state of Israel 08:21  |  john locke 14/07/08
      39.   IT`S NOT YOUR JOB TO OUST MERT;I GUESS IT IS TO STAND BY AND 08:48  |  glenna 14/07/08
      40.   No indictment or indictments 09:24  |  Dror 14/07/08
      41.   I am so sickened by this 09:27  |  Dror 14/07/08
      42.   MAZUZ NEEDS TONGUE SURGERY 09:33  |  TZ 14/07/08
      43.   It`s the Knesset`s job to elect a new leader. If not the People`s 09:45  |  Realist 14/07/08
      44.   #40 Everything is unreliable: what you wanna do? 11:36  |  Ulf 14/07/08
      45.   I SUPPOSE IT IS YOUR JOB AND EVERY OTHER OF HIS CLONES TO STAND 17:15  |  glenna 14/07/08
      46.   I SUPPOSE IT IS YOUR JOB AND EVERY OTHER OF HIS CLONES TO STAND 17:15  |  glenna 14/07/08
      47.   Mazuz`s job:- to protect the PM at all costs 23:03  |  Call a spade a spade 14/07/08
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