Police want Olmert indicted over cronyism

Police investigators will recommend that former prime minister Ehud Olmert be tried on charges of cronyism allegedly perpetrated during his term as minister of industry, trade and labor.

Chief police investigator Yoav Seglovitch announced Monday that there was enough evidence to charge Olmert over political appointments he made during his tenure as minister.

The police said in a statement they found "evidence of criminal acts of fraud and breach of trust".

A police source familiar with the case said earlier this year that Olmert had not been able to refute the majority of the suspicions against him throughout the investigation.

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz had previously decided to indict Olmert on the Rishon Tours double-billing affair, the Talansky "cash envelopes" case and the Investment Center affair.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry announced on Monday that Mazuz has decided to close the corruption case against Olmert over the purchase of a home on Cremieux Street in Jerusalem, citing lack of evidence.

The investigation against him in the political appointments affair began in 2007, when a report by the state comptroller, retired judge Micha Lindenstrauss, alleged that during Olmert's tenure as minister, the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority became "a platform for improper and politically motivated appointments."

The comptroller said Olmert and the ministry's director general at the time, Raanan Dinur, created a new position at the authority: of deputy director general in charge of project operation.

The position was then given to attorney Lilach Nechemiah, at the time the partner of finance minister Abraham Hirshson, a close associate of Olmert.

Nechemiah had previously been rejected as a candidate for a position in the government tourism authority, apparently for reasons related to her personal-political connections and lack of skills.

Her appointment by Olmert and his aides as deputy director general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority was followed by that of three members of the Likud central committee as "project managers."

Dinur, who is currently director general of the Prime Minister's Office, was interrogated under warning several months ago, as was Olmert's senior assistant at the time, Oved Yehezkel.

An aide to the former premier on Monday blasted the prosecution and police for making the announcement on the day the Cremieux Street was shut.

"The state prosecutors and the police are trying to blur and cover up the fact that the Cremieux Street case was closed after the foot-dragging and the drawn-out legal proceedings, so they deliberately announce on the same day that there is a recommendation to indict in another case," said Olmert's communications adviser, Amir Dan.

"The public has had its fill of this type of conduct from the police and the prosecutors that are engaged in media spin while settling petty accounts," Dan said. "We find it unfortunate that such a circus has been orchestrated by the system of law enforcement."