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July 10th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
“This is not the last you will hear from me in the next few days,”
he said.
The former prime minister was visibly relieved as the verdict was read out.
He had long protested his innocence, saying that he was hounded out of office
by overzealous prosecutors pursuing a political vendetta.
His resignation in 2009 dealt a potentially significant blow to the Middle
East peace process, with Mr Olmert maintaining that he had come closer than
any of his predecessors to securing a formal deal with the Palestinians.
While the claim may be overstated, there is no doubt that Mr Olmert’s legal
travails hampered progress. The Palestinian leadership suggested that it
held back from accepting a deal as it became apparent that he was unlikely
to survive in office.
The verdicts prompted denunciations of Moshe Lador, the state prosecutor. Mr
Olmert’s allies in the Kadima party he once led accused Mr Lador of allowing
blind ambition to usurp the democratic process by forcing an innocent man
from power.
“The Israeli public finally understands that a prime minister was
impeached for nothing,” Yoel Hasson, Kadima’s chairman, was quoted as
saying.
“This is a dark day for the state prosecution and the state prosecutor
must seriously consider what’s next for him.”
The prosecution’s case rested on two principal charges accusing Mr Olmert of
double-billing charities for overseas fund-raising trips and taking bribes
in the form of cash stuffed into envelopes from an American businessman. The
court rejected the prosecution’s arguments on both charges.
Friends of Mr Olmert said the way had now been cleared for an unlikely
political rehabilitation. Kadima MPs invited him to rejoin the faction,
although others suggested that he was more likely to found a new centrist
party.
A return to Israeli politics however is not guaranteed. Mr Olmert still faces
a separate trial where he is one of 13 defendants facing charges related to
a bribery scandal surrounding a controversial real estate project in
Jerusalem.
With a verdict not expected for another year, Mr Olmert may have to wait until
after Israel’s next general election to stake his claim.
Although he retains a loyal support base from Israeli centrists, not everyone
is convinced his moral standing has recovered sufficiently.
“The fact that Olmert was found guilty of breach of trust is extremely
severe, and the verdict should spell the end of his political career,”
said Zehava Gal-On, an MP with the left-wing Meretz party.
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