By JOSEF FEDERMAN
The Associated Press
Monday, September 24, 2007; 4:32 PM
JERUSALEM -- Israel's attorney general on Monday ordered police to open a criminal investigation into allegations that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert fraudulently purchased a Jerusalem home well below market value.
The move dealt a blow to the Israeli leader at a time when he has begun to rehabilitate his image following a series of scandals and missteps.
It also came at a sensitive time for Mideast peace efforts. Olmert has been holding talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas aimed at agreeing on the framework for a future peace deal ahead of a U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference later this year.
Attorney General Meni Mazuz ordered the investigation at the recommendation of the state comptroller, a government watchdog agency that suspects Olmert bought the house from a Jerusalem developer "at a discount," the Justice Ministry said. Olmert, a former mayor of Jerusalem, was a senior government minister at the time of the sale, in late 2004.
In return, Olmert is suspected of helping the developer obtain construction permits from Jerusalem authorities. The ministry said Mazuz will have to weigh evidence gathered by police before deciding whether to indict Olmert.
Israeli media said he paid $1.2 million for the home, which the state comptroller said was about $325,000 below market value.
In a statement, Olmert declared his innocence and insisted the price he paid was fair.
"We are sure the investigation will clearly show that the purchase of the apartment by the Olmert family was made honestly, ethically and for an appropriate price," it said.
"This investigation is uncalled for," it added, while pledging Olmert would "cooperate fully."
Olmert has been dogged by corruption allegations throughout his three-decade political career but has never been convicted. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
This is the second criminal investigation launched against Olmert since he became prime minister in May 2006. The other probe concerns suspicions that Olmert, as finance minister in 2005, tried to influence the sale of the government's controlling interest in the country's second-largest bank, Bank Leumi, to favor two associates.
The state comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, also has accused Olmert of using his influence to steer a government grant to a colleague in 2001, when he was trade minister. Suspicions also have clouded two other real estate deals involving Olmert.
The latest probe threatened to damage Olmert's newly rehabilitated public image. Olmert has been deeply unpopular since last summer's inconclusive war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
But opinion polls have shown a sudden surge in his popularity in the wake of reports that Israel successfully carried out an airstrike in Syria earlier this month. Olmert has not commented on the incident, and Israeli authorities have imposed a news blackout on the matter.
While the police investigation poses no immediate threat to Olmert's job, it is another distraction for the embattled leader at a time when he is trying to step up peace efforts with the Palestinians.
Olmert has been meeting frequently with Abbas, the Palestinian president, ahead of the U.S. peace conference. The two men are trying to reach a written agreement presenting a framework for negotiations on a final peace deal ahead of the conference, which is expected in November.
Israeli lawmaker Yossi Beilin, a veteran of past peace negotiations, said the series of scandals facing Olmert had created a virtual "mission impossible" for Olmert to focus on diplomatic matters.
"If you think about it in human dimensions, somebody who is under these suspicions and these investigations cannot actually function in my view as a prime minister," Beilin said in an Associated Press interview. "Even if he is totally innocent, he would need a lot of time in order to meet this challenge."
Separately Monday, a close ally of Olmert's was also dealt a legal blow.
Mazuz announced he is planning to move ahead with indicting Avraham Hirchson, who was forced to step down as finance minister in July because of embezzlement allegations. Hirchson is accused of stealing millions from a workers union he headed in 2003. Hirchson has denied the charges.
Mazuz said his final decision on an indictment depended on a special hearing for Hirchson, standard practice for public officials suspected of crimes.