Yossi Olmert to give key testimony in Holyland trial

Yossi Olmert is due to answer prosecutors’ allegations on Sunday that he received NIS 500,000 in bribes at the behest of his brother, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, during the latter’s term as mayor of Jerusalem. Yossi Olmert, who fled to the United States several years ago after running up huge debts in Israel, will be testifying by videoconference from the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., as part of the Holyland corruption trial, in which his brother is a key defendant.

Ehud Olmert is accused of expediting the expanded construction of the Holyland luxury apartment complex and facilitating other real estate ventures in exchange for bribes paid not to him but to others, including his brother .

At his police interrogation, deceased state witness Schmuel Dechner said he transferred NIS 500,000 to Olmert at the request of his brother Ehud.

Under interrogation, Yossi Olmert previously confirmed receiving the money from Dechner, but denied the prosecution’s claim that the transfer was at his brother’s request. Yossi Olmert claims he does not know who asked Dechner to send him the money, but suggested it may have been former civil service commissioner Avraham Natan, who denied the allegation. Ehud Olmert’s knowledge of the transfer is crucial to convicting him for accepting bribes.

If Yossi Olmert, a historian and former head of Israel’s Government Press Office, retracts part of the testimony he gave police, he could be declared a hostile witness. Apart from Dechner’s statement at his interrogation, there is no evidence proving that Ehud Olmert made such a request on behalf of his brother. The former premier’s attorneys did not have the opportunity to cross-examine Dechner before his death at the beginning of March.

Prosecutors have repeatedly argued since Dechner’s death that Ehud Olmert’s indictment was not based solely on Dechner’s statements, and that they have further evidence, such as the testimony of Morris Talansky that Olmert had made a similar request for a bribe. Prosecutors further argue that there could be no other known motive for Dechner to hand over funds to Yossi Olmert.

To convict Ehud Olmert, the court must be convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the evidence proves that the former prime minister requested that the money be transferred to his brother. Still, the prosecution said that most bribery cases lack external proof of the request for bribes, yet the courts have found defendants guilty of accepting them.

Olmert’s attorneys met recently with prosecutors to argue that the remaining evidence is weak and pointed to what they said were contradictions in Dechner’s testimony.