Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz must now decide whether to indict Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over the alleged bribes he received from Morris Talansky, after the American fundraiser ended five days in the dock with his version of events intact.
Despite appearing at times shaken and confused during the cross-examination, the main facts of his testimony have not been changed. Mr Olmert allegedly received money through Mr Talansky on at least three separate occasions and he also covered the expenses of Mr Olmert and his wife’s stay in Washington in October 2005.
“Not only has the defence failed to change Talansky’s testimony on these matters,” a member of the state prosecution team told the JC, “but we have in addition the testimony of Uri Messer [Mr Olmert’s lawyer] and documents that prove it all, so our case is still looking very strong.”