The State Prosecutor’s office has rejected the proposal, and added that they would issue a final decision on the matter at a later date.
The affair deals with suspicions that then Industry, Trade, and Labor minister, Olmert paid a discounted price for an apartment on Jerusalem’s Cremieux Street from its developer the Alumot MG Engineering Corporation in exchange for his assistance for shortening bureaucratic processes for a real estate project Alumot MG was planning in the city. The affair first came to light following a state comptroller’s report in March 2006.
A police investigation that followed was eventually closed about a year ago after then attorney general Menachem Mazuz and other top officials at the State Prosecutor’s Office followed police recommendations that there was insufficient evidence that prove that any criminal offenses had taken place.
The justices’ recommendation Monday to reopen the case came during a hearing that dealt with a petition issued by joiurnalist Yoav Yitzhak, which was critical of the decision made by former Attorney General Mazuz to close the case against Olmert.
State prosecutor Uri Keidar said during the hearing that the investigations of senior municipal officials’ roles in the affair is different than those involving Olmert, adding that Mazuz had ruled that while the conduct of municipal officials warranted suspicion, there was no evidence to suggest wrongdoing on Olmert’s part.