Olmert trial to resume after prosecutors return to work
Olmert won't face trial over Leumi Olmert had complained on Sunday that Lador ruined his reputation when, in an interview to Haaretz, he described a $75,000 loan Olmert had received from American businessman Joe Elmaliach in 1993 as “scandalous.”Olmert said the loan had been repaid and demanded that Lador and Haaretz apologize and, together, donate NIS 50,000 to an agreed charity.Lador did not apologize; but on Monday, the State Attorney’s Office issued a response saying that the fact that the loan had been repaid was unknown to Lador and pointing out that the said loan was not included in the fraud charges filed against the ex-prime minister.The response also defended Lador’s right to pass judgment on the notion that a public official held on to an undocumented $75,000 “loaned” to him by a businessman for 16 years.The response added that the state had not been aware that Olmert had paid back a second loan of $100,000 from the same source, which Olmert had neglected to disclose to the state comptroller.