Olmert's woes raise questions of ties to US Jews

Olmert's woes raise questions of ties to US Jews
JERUSALEM - A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish stateWhile Israel has had close ties with the U.S. Jewish community throughout its history, some wealthy American donors have extended their influence to Israel's halls of power, crossing what many Israelis see as a red line. The cases of fundraiser Morris Talansky and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson have drawn new attention to this sometimes blurry relationship.

Talansky's testimony that he handed Olmert cash-stuffed envelopes in the years before he became prime minister is at the center of a scandal that may topple the Israeli leader. Olmert's lawyers are set to cross-examine Talansky on Thursday.

Adelson, meanwhile, has launched a newspaper that makes no bones about its disgust with Olmert.

Neither man is suspected of anything illicit. But there is an important similarity. Both have chosen to move beyond philanthropy to political activism, using their money to influence decision-making in a country they love but which is not their home.

"It's simple: Whoever doesn't pay the price does not have the right to get involved," said Matti Golan, an Israeli author who has written about the ties between U.S. Jews and Israel.

The relationship benefits both wealthy U.S. Jews, who get to feel important by hobnobbing with powerful politicians, and Israeli politicians, who can expand their limited pool of donors in Israel and who enjoy getting the royal treatment on trips abroad, he said.

"Who gave American Jews the right to decide what is good or bad for Israel?" said Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, an American Jewish advocacy group. "What are the consequences of their opinion if they are wrong in their assessments? They will sit in Beverly Hills or the Hamptons and say, 'I was wrong,'" Foxman said.

"The fact that you support universities and charitable needs doesn't give you the right to determine issues of life and death," he said.

Israeli law forbids direct foreign donations to political parties and limits donations to individual politicians to a maximum of about $10,000, depending on whether the money is meant for a local election, a national race or an internal party primary.

But other activities aren't restricted. American donors can give money to political causes ranging from hardline groups that promote Jewish settlements in the West Bank to the dovish Peace Now.

In the case of Adelson, he launched a newspaper that harshly criticizes Olmert and is distributed free to hundreds of thousands of Israelis. The newspaper is part of what is widely seen by Adelson as a concerted attempt to replace Olmert with his hardline rival, Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli political insiders see the paper, Yisrael Hayom — Israel Today — as a mouthpiece for Netanyahu. Olmert's media adviser, Jacob Galanti, refuses to refer to it as a newspaper, recently terming it a "printed product."

Adelson, a casino multibillionaire listed by Forbes last year as the third-richest man in America, has long had pull in Israel's corridors of power. In May, when he helped fund a conference convened by President Shimon Peres for Israel's 60th anniversary, he and his wife were seated alongside Olmert and other Israeli leaders.

Nahum Barnea, one of Israel's most respected journalists, later referred in his column to the "gambling mogul from Las Vegas who bought my country's birthday for $3 million."

"Is the country worth so little?" Barnea asked.

Through a representative in Las Vegas, Adelson declined an interview request.

Adelson's paper, a tabloid heavy on sports and celebrity gossip, has extended Adelson's reach to everyday Israelis. It is delivered free of charge to people's doorsteps and distributed at busy intersections.

The newspaper typically carries a front-page editorial blasting Olmert and his government, with long investigative pieces inside on the misdeeds of Olmert and his cronies. Coverage of Netanyahu is generally benign.

Newspaper officials did not return messages seeking comment.

Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, would not comment on Adelson's activities, but noted that Olmert told The Atlantic Monthly in May that there were U.S. Jews "investing a lot of money trying to overthrow the government in Israel."

Until his recent troubles, Olmert welcomed involvement by American Jews. In the years before he became prime minister, he was happy to accept donations from Americans. One donor was Talansky, now the central figure in a corruption scandal that has ravaged what little popularity Olmert had and could force him out of office.

Talansky, who lives on New York's Long Island, made his donations to Olmert when he was mayor of Jerusalem, a Likud lawmaker and later a Cabinet minister. Testifying in May, Talansky spoke of his deep love for Israel and his conviction that Olmert was the right man to lead the country.

In 2006, Olmert broke away from Likud and led the centrist Kadima Party to victory in national elections. Today, Talansky appears to be bitterly disillusioned with Olmert, and says he believes some of his money went to fund a lavish lifestyle that included expensive cigars, luxury hotels and a vacation in Italy.

Police are investigating and Olmert has said he will resign if indicted. In the meantime, his political rivals have begun the process of replacing him as leader of the Kadima party, with primaries scheduled by the end of September.

Amnon Rubinstein, a prominent Israeli legal expert and a former justice minister, said American Jews "should give money to charity, to universities, to hospitals, but not to political parties."

But across the Israeli political spectrum, it has become a commonly accepted practice.

"Israel has been receiving donations from Diaspora Jews for 60 years," said Eliad Shraga, who founded the country's best-known good governance group, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. "As long as it's legal, I don't see a problem."

Yossi Beilin of the dovish Meretz Party said the involvement of American Jews, even those with views different from his own, is preferable to apathy.

In the 1990s, Florida bingo magnate Irving Moskowitz set off a political storm by building a Jewish neighborhood in heavily Arab east Jerusalem with the enthusiastic cooperation of Jerusalem's mayor — Olmert. Beilin was an unlikely defender.

"I said I thought he was doing terrible damage, but I couldn't ignore the fact that he cares. I prefer someone who cares about Israel to someone who doesn't," Beilin said.

Hezbollah hands over coffins in prisoner swap

Hezbollah hands over coffins in prisoner swap
ROSH HANIKRA, Israel - Lebanese guerrillas on Wednesday turned over to the Red Cross two black coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli soldiers captured two years ago, as a prisoner exchange with Israel got under way.Family and friends outside the homes of the two captured soldiers burst into tears as they watched the handover on television.

If Israeli forensic experts positively identify the bodies as Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Israel will later turn over five Lebanese prisoners to Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group — including a militant convicted in what is perceived here as a monstrous attack.

The servicemen had been presumed dead, but there had been no confirmation. Their Hezbollah captors had withheld any information about them since they were captured on July 12, 2006, in a cross-border raid that touched off a monthlong war between Israel and Hezbollah.

"We are handing over the two Israeli soldiers that were captured by the resistance...and whose fate has been unknown until this moment," said senior Hezbollah security official Wafik Safa. "Now you know their fate."

An aunt of Regev's sank to the ground when she saw the coffins appear on a small TV hooked up outside the soldier's father's house. Some 50 friends, neighbors and family who had gathered there sobbed, rocked back and forth in prayer or pulled their hair.

"Nasrallah, you will pay," several vowed, referring to Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. Other people in the crowd criticized Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying the soldiers died for nothing.

Olmert waged a much-criticized monthlong war against Hezbollah in 2006 after the Israeli soldiers were taken.

The family's neighbor, Simona Adda, 68, said her children had grown up with Regev. "It's the saddest day for Israel. They kept us waiting until the last second to learn the fate of our sons," she said, then burst out crying.

The sorrow that swept across Israel with the images of the coffins contrasted sharply with the hero's welcome that awaited convicted killer Samir Kantar upon his return to a homeland he left 29 years ago to set out on his deadly mission.

In the Gaza Strip, controlled by the violently anti-Israel Hamas group, the spectacle of the coffins drew people into the street in celebration, and sweets were passed around.

Putting aside decades of resistance and breaking what had been a long-held taboo, Israel's Cabinet gave final approval on Tuesday to free Kantar. But he and Israel's four remaining Hezbollah prisoners from the 2006 war won't be handed over to Red Cross representatives at the Rosh Hanikra border crossing until Israeli forensic experts positively identify the soldiers.

The border crossing area was declared a closed military zone until the swap, codenamed "And the sons shall return," is completed.

Although polls show Israelis solidly endorse the exchange, many see Kantar as the embodiment of evil.

In the dead of night on April 22, 1979, Kantar and three other gunmen made their way in a rubber dinghy from Lebanon to the sleepy Israeli coastal town of Nahariya, five miles south of the border.

There, in a hail of gunfire and exploding grenades, they killed a policeman who stumbled upon them, then burst into the apartment of Danny Haran, herding him and his 4-year-old daughter out of the house at gunpoint to the beach below, where they were killed.

The attack is seared in Israel's collective consciousness because witnesses recounted that Kantar shot Danny Haran in front of his child, then killed her by smashing her skull against a rock with his rifle butt.

Haran's wife, Smadar, who had fled into a crawl space in the family apartment with her 2-year-old daughter, accidentally smothered the child with her hand while trying to stifle her cries.

Kantar, who acted on behalf of a militant Palestinian faction, denies killing the older child and has never expressed remorse over the incident. He was 16 years old at the time.

In addition to the prisoners, Israel also has agreed to release the bodies of 199 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters killed in clashes over the years. Red Cross trucks bearing the bodies also began moving toward the border early Wednesday

The deal seals a painful chapter from Israel's inconclusive war against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, launched with the declared aim of returning the captured soldiers.

On Tuesday, Hezbollah's commander in south Lebanon, Sheik Nabil Kaouk, called the swap an "official admission of defeat" for Israel. Red, white and green Lebanese flags, yellow Hezbollah flags and welcome banners hung in south Lebanese villages where the coffins carrying the returned bodies will be driven in a convoy from the border toward the capital, Beirut.

Hezbollah supporters have set up a makeshift stage in the coastal town of Naqoura, where a brief ceremony will be held. On the platform stood a large photograph of a weeping Israeli woman. A nearby sign read, "Israel is shedding tears of pain."

"Lebanon is shedding tears of joy," read another.

An official ceremony will follow at Beirut Airport and will be attended by Lebanon's president, prime minister and parliament speaker. Later, Nasrallah is to address what is expected to be a huge celebration at the group's stronghold south of Beirut.

Cardon Christian, a Red Cross spokesman, said from Naqoura that the Red Cross does not know whether the Israeli soldiers are dead or alive. "We are acting as a neutral intermediary and our role is to facilitate this handover operation," he told The Associated Press.

The exchange will be a somber occasion in Israel, where no ceremonies are planned.

Dead Army nurse's husband charged with murder

Dead Army nurse's husband charged with murder

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The husband of an Army nurse who worked in the maternity ward at Fort Bragg's hospital was charged Monday with murder in her death, a day after her body was discovered by authorities.Marine Cpl. John Wimunc, 23, was also charged with first-degree arson and conspiracy to commit arson in the death of his wife, Army 2nd Lt. Holley Wimunc, of Dubuque, Iowa. Her body was found Sunday, three days after a suspicious fire at her Fayetteville apartment.

In May, Wimunc secured a temporary restraining order against her husband. She told authorities he got drunk and held a loaded handgun to her head and his. At the time of her death, the couple was going through a divorce.

"You start with people who are closest to the spouse and you work your way out from that," Fayetteville Detective Jeff Locklear said of the investigation.

Authorities also charged Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Alden, 22, with first-degree arson, conspiracy to commit arson and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Both were arrested at Camp Lejeune, the Marine Corps base about 130 miles southeast of Fayetteville where they are stationed as combat engineers.

Wimunc's body was found in a wooded area near the southern border of Camp Lejeune late Sunday afternoon, not far from Alden's residence. The body had been there several days and there is evidence she was dead upon arrival, said Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson, who wouldn't elaborate. The men were arrested late Sunday night after police interviewed Alden.

"We were able to corroborate a lot of the things he told us," Locklear said. "We used that information, interviews with witnesses ... to get the arrest warrant."

Both men are currently being held without bond in the Cumberland County jail and are scheduled to appear in court Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear if they had attorneys. John Wimunc's father declined to comment when reached by The Associated Press, but Alden's mother said her son's only involvement was giving a friend a ride to Fayetteville.

"He had no idea what was going on. He didn't do this," Connie Johnson said in a phone interview from her home in Pequot Lakes, Minn.

Fayetteville police began searching for Wimunc when she didn't show up for work Thursday. Co-workers could not find her at her apartment, but smelled what they suspected was a fire and called police. Once inside, investigators found evidence of arson.

Sgt. Chris Corcione said Monday that investigators found several points where the fire was started, but the blaze was concentrated in the apartment's rear bedroom. While the interior walls of the burned room were black with soot, Corcione said, the fire burned itself out and left behind useable evidence.

Holley Wimunc, 24, was commissioned by the Army Nurse Corps in 2007. Her first duty assignment was at Fort Bragg, where she worked in the mother and baby unit at Womack Army Medical Center.

Corcione said Wimunc was last seen alive the night of July 8, when she went out with friends and used her ATM card. Police believe she was dead when she was taken out of the apartment, but they are not yet sure when her body was taken to Onslow County.

Hudson said an attempt to burn the body set off a brush fire that drew the attention of authorities, and the body was located by Division of Forest Resources personnel. He said detectives likely would never have found her body had it been burned in a brush-free area about 100 feet away.

"It seems that someone tried to torch the body in the shallow grave," Hudson said.

Maj. Cliff W. Gilmore, a spokesman with the 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, said both suspects are assigned to the division's 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion. John Wimunc has served two tours in Iraq, including one that ended in January. Alden's mother said he went to Iraq in 2006.

"All he wanted to do was defend our country," Johnson said. "He has a wonderful, loving heart."

Holley Wimunc's father in Dubuque, Jesse James, said his daughter was a St. Ambrose University graduate, and excited about nursing and her career in the U.S. Army. She also had a son and daughter.

John Wimunc was not the father of Holley Wimunc's two children, and they were not in Fayetteville when the fire was reported. She had sent them to live with her father because of "the domestic situation," Corcione said.

Wimunc's death is the third homicide of a young North Carolina-based female service member in the past seven months.

In January, the body of Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, of Vandalia, Ohio, was found in the back yard of a fellow Marine, Cpl. Cesar Laurean. He fled to Mexico and was captured in early April, and is charged with murder in her death.

Last month, the decomposing body of Spc. Megan Touma, of Cold Spring, Ky., was discovered in a motel near Fort Bragg. Authorities have made no arrests in that case, but stressed Monday it has no connection to Wimunc's death.

Police: Iraq suicide bombers kill 28 army recruits

Police: Iraq suicide bombers kill 28 army recruits

BAQOUBA, Iraq - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of army recruits Tuesday in a former al-Qaida in Iraq stronghold northeast of Baghdad, killing at least 28 people, Iraqi police saidThe blast at the Saad military camp in Baqouba, 35 miles from Baghdad, also wounded at least 47 recruits, a police official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The U.S. military confirmed the attack, saying it occurred around 8 a.m.

Diyala province around Baqouba has been one of the few remaining violent areas in Iraq after offensives against extremists in the south, Baghdad's Sadr City and Mosul in the north.

Iraqi military officials said this week that they plan an offensive in the region soon to rein in remaining militants. U.S. military officials have said they will support that effort, which they called an enhancement of existing patrols and actions there.

On June 22, a female suicide bomber concealing explosives beneath her black robe struck outside a government complex in Baqouba, capital of Diyala province. At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 were wounded.

A car bomb across the street from the same compound killed at least 40 people in April.

Food, oil crises 'grave threats'

Food, oil crises 'grave threats'

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia on Tuesday called for boosting world food production and finding a permanent solution to skyrocketing oil prices, saying the twin problems have become "grave threats" to the world economy"We must identity the bold measures that we need to take now in order to guarantee the well-being of our economies," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told a summit of Islamic countries.

The Developing Eight summit brings together eight developing Islamic nations — Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria and Turkey. It coincides with the Group of Eight summit under way in northern Japan.

Abdullah said the one-day D-8 summit must "come out with a clear message on the need to boost food production in the world."

He noted global food prices have risen by more than 75 percent since 2000, leaving the "world economy ... facing grave threats to its well-being."

Abdullah said a plan to stabilize the price of oil must also be developed.

"Long-term solutions must be found for stabilizing the price of oil. For example, the international community can examine how the futures market might be organized to assist in stabilizing prices," he said, without elaborating.

Although Malaysia, Indonesia, Iran and Nigeria are oil-producing countries, their economies have been hit hard by rising fuel prices. Oil prices fell by $4 a barrel on Monday, but remain at more than $140 a barrel.

Malaysia raised gasoline prices by 41 percent and diesel by 63 percent last month. The government says inflation is likely to cross 5 percent this year, which has fueled public anger.

Indonesia, the region's biggest oil producer, is also facing public unrest because of escalating food and oil costs. It said it will quit the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries because of declining oil reserves and investments.

Indonesia's production of roughly a million barrels a day is at its lowest level in 30 years.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a speech the challenge of food and energy security has surpassed the challenge of globalization, which he said has led to the marginalization of many poor countries.

"There is no quick fix that will sweep aside this challenge, but we must act on it at once and in concert. To delay concerted action on this great challenge of our time is to court disaster," Yudhoyono said.

The "rising price of crude oil, the scramble for alternative sources of energy, and the threat of global warming" have exacerbated the food crisis, he said.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, OPEC's second largest oil producer, did not address the opening of the summit

Ecuador pardons small-time drug couriers

QUITO, Ecuador - Hundreds of jailed convicts are celebrating Ecuador's decision to pardon low-level drug couriers known as "mulesThe pardons were approved Friday by Ecuador's constitutional assembly, which has taken on legislative powers after suspending the nation's Congress last year.
The assembly pardoned couriers who have been convicted of carrying 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms) of drugs or less, served at least 10 percent of their sentences or one year in prison, and are not repeat offenders.
Last year, President Rafael Correa proposed the pardons and new drug-sentencing rules, calling it absurd to sentence small-time couriers to more than 10 years in prison for carrying as little as 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of cocaine.
"The president has come through with his promise, and we appreciate him and the assembly members," said Carlo Aragundi, head of a prisoners' organization at a jail in Quito.
Aragundi, who is serving 20 years for robbery, estimated that 1,200 prisoners may be eligible for pardon.
Ernesto Pazmino, director of Ecuador's public defender's office, said the government will start accepting pardon applications on Monday and has 30 days to release qualified prisoners.
Supreme Court Magistrate Rodrigo Bucheli criticized the constitutional assembly for pressing forward with the pardons without yet addressing the problematic laws behind the tough drug sentences.
Ecuador's current drug laws, which Correa said were drafted under pressure from the U.S., do not differentiate between big-time traffickers and the low-level bagmen who smuggle drugs for them. "Mules" often swallow or carry small amounts of drugs across borders for money.
Correa has acknowledged that his father, who died when Correa was 9, was jailed for three years in the United States for carrying drugs.
Ecuador produces virtually no coca, the key ingredient in cocaine, but is often used as a transit country for drugs sent from neighboring Colombia and Peru — the world's top two cocaine producers — to the United States.

40 dead in Indian embassy blast in Afghan capital

40 dead in Indian embassy blast in Afghan capital

KABUL, Afghanistan - A car bomb ripped through the front wall of the Indian Embassy in central Kabul on Monday, killing 40 people in what appeared to be the deadliest attack in Afghanistan's capital since the fall of the Taliban, officials saidThe massive explosion detonated by a suicide bomber damaged two embassy vehicles entering the compound, near where dozens of Afghan men line up every morning to apply for visas.

The embassy is located on a busy, tree-lined street near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry in the city center. Several nearby shops were damaged or destroyed in the blast, and smoldering ruins covered the street. The explosion rattled much of the Afghan capital.

"Several shopkeepers have died. I have seen shopkeepers under the rubble," said Ghulam Dastagir, a shopkeeper who was wounded in the blast.

Najib Nikzad, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the blast killed 40 people. Earlier, Abdullah Fahim, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said the explosion killed at least 28 people and wounded 141, but an update of the number of injured was not immediately available. The Interior Ministry said six police officers and three embassy guards were among those killed.

In Delhi, India's foreign minister said four Indians, including the military attache, were killed in the attack.

The explosion appeared to be the deadliest attack in Kabul since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. It was the deadliest in Afghanistan since a suicide bomber killed more than 100 people at a dog fighting competition in Kandahar province in February.

Shortly after the attack, a woman ran out of a Kabul hospital screaming, crying and hitting her face with both of her hands. Her two children, a girl named Lima and a boy named Mirwais, had been killed.

"Oh my God!" the woman screamed. "They are both dead."

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

President Hamid Karzai condemned the bombing and said it was carried out by militants trying to rupture the friendship between Afghanistan and India.

The Interior Ministry, meanwhile, hinted that the attack was carried out with help from Pakistan's intelligence service, saying that "terrorists have carried out this attack in coordination and consultation with some of the active intelligence circles in the region."

In Delhi, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said the attack would not deter the mission from "fulfilling our commitments to the government and people of Afghanistan." The Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Pakistan condemned the attack and terrorism in all forms.

Afghanistan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta visited the embassy shortly after the attack, ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmed Baheen said.

"India and Afghanistan have a deep relationship between each other. Such attacks of the enemy will not harm our relations," Spanta told the embassy staff, according to Baheen.

The Indian ambassador and his deputy were not inside the embassy at the time of the blast, Baheen said.

Militants have frequently attacked Indian offices and projects around Afghanistan since launching an insurgency after the ouster of the Taliban at the end of the 2001. Many Taliban militants have roots in Pakistan, which has long had a troubled relationship with India.

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan in the late 1990s, the Islamic militia was supported by Pakistan, India's arch-rival. Pakistan today remains wary of strengthening ties between Afghanistan and India.

The United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan said that "in no culture, no country, and no religion is there any excuse or justification for such acts."

"The total disregard for innocent lives is staggering and those behind this must be held responsible," the envoy, Kai Eide, said.

The U.N. sent an e-mail to its staff advising them to stay off Kabul's roads because of reports that a second suicide car bomber was in the city.

The embassy attack was the sixth suicide bombing in Kabul this year. Insurgent violence has killed more than 2,200 people — mostly militants — in Afghanistan this year, according to an Associated Press count of official figures.

The embassy in the last several days had beefed up security by installing large, dirt-filled blast walls often used by military forces.

While Afghanistan has seen increasing violence in recent months, Kabul has been largely spared the random bomb attacks that Taliban militants use in their fight against Afghan and international troops.

In September 2006, a suicide bomber near the gates of the Interior Ministry killed 12 people and wounded 42 others. After that blast, additional guards and barriers were posted on the street.

In two separate bombings Monday against police convoys in the country's south, seven officers were killed and 10 others were wounded, officials said.

In Uruzgan province, a roadside bomb killed four police on patrol and wounded seven others, said provincial police chief Juma Gul Himat.

In the Zhari district of Kandahar, another roadside blast killed three officers and wounded three others, said district chief Niyaz Mohammad Sarhadi.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force, meanwhile, said one of its soldiers died in an attack in the south on Sunday.