No matter what they think of him...

Safra Square breathed a collective sigh of relief when Ehud Olmert was acquitted.

By PEGGY CIDOR
No matter what they think of him (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
No matter what they think of him
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Less than an hour after the verdict on former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s case, it was the talk of the day in the corridors of Safra Square. Although almost 10 years have passed since Olmert ended his task as mayor of this city, there are quite a few here who still feel he is the boss, whether they liked him or not (people either loved him or hated him, but few were indifferent).
Not many of the city councillors from Olmert’s two terms on the Jerusalem City Council are still serving, but it is relatively easy to find at least one shared position among both his supporters and his opponents: They have all expressed, albeit for different reasons, their satisfaction with his acquittal last week.
Olmert has a sharp tongue, and he did not hesitate to use it at the noisy city council meetings, on either his coalition members or his opponents. When he left the municipality in February 2003 to become industry, trade and labor minister and vice premier to Ariel Sharon, his successor – and until then, deputy – Uri Lupolianski brought in a totally different style that peaked unforgettably when he brought a cup of tea to one of the city councillors who had coughed, causing the rest of the public to stare at him in stupefaction.
However, veteran city councillors and some high-ranking officials at the municipality – who were careful not to be identified – all agreed that Olmert’s verdict is a relief.
“Thank God he was not convicted,” City Councilman Meir Turgeman summed it up.
“No matter what I personally think of him, I thought that as an Israeli, I just couldn’t bear a prime minister’s indictment – after seeing a president and a finance minister sent to prison, it would have been just too much.”
That said, Turgeman, in his characteristically direct manner, said he was nevertheless far from being convinced that the former mayor was not at all involved in the cases in question.
Turgeman further expressed the opinion that any other citizen, with less financial means and fewer connections than Olmert had, would probably have been indicted.
These sentiments were far from rare at Safra Square this week, though he was the only one who dared to express them.
HOWEVER, OLMERT’S old coalition partners, the members of the Shas list, sounded much more supportive. Shlomi Attias, his former deputy, said this week that he felt “overwhelmed with joy” on hearing about the acquittal, and added immediately that all the haredi members of the city council, past and present, felt the same.
Attias’s attitude is not surprising. Olmert acted toward them like a true gentleman, signed agreements he fulfilled to the last paragraph, and, as Attias explained, showed the haredi community that there was really no need for a haredi mayor as long as he was around.
However, until the court issues its decisions in the other cases involving Olmert – among them the infamous Holyland scandal – all of those interviewed prefer to keep a low profile, admitting (off the record, of course) that these cases look a bit less encouraging.
One of the high-ranking officials tried to explain the difference between the Rishon Tours, Talansky and Investment Center cases, and the Holyland affair, saying that “the magnitude of the construction [on the Holyland complex] literally shouts out that this affair stinks, it’s unavoidable.”
But asked whether Olmert would be convicted this time, the man hesitated a second before replying, “I am not so sure. I’m afraid that here again, others will pay for this.”
This conclusion recalls Turgeman’s own conclusion that Olmert’s resources will determine the outcome of the Holyland affair.