The envelopes again: The Supreme Court ruled today that the Talansky case, also known as the 'money envelope case', in which former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was accused and acquitted - will return to trial in the Jerusalem District Court.
The reason for this is the recordings and diaries that his former chief of staff, Shula Zaken, presented to the attorney general's office as part of the plea agreement and the state's witness agreement that was signed with her.
These materials will be submitted as new evidence to the district court.
The ruling was written by Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, and he was joined by the other judges sitting on the panel: Salim Joubran, Yoram Danziger, Neil Hendel and Uzi Fogelman.
The decision states: "For the purposes of the motion we are discussing and for it alone, it appears that attempts were made by Olmert to influence an elder not to testify in the trial.".
Grunis qualified and wrote that his words were made for the purpose of deciding on the request to reopen the case, and not as a factual determination that Olmert did indeed have improper influence over Zaken.
""For the purpose of deciding on the request to collect additional evidence, it is sufficient to say that the conversation between Olmert and Zaken recorded on tapes justifies collecting the evidence, as requested by the state. This reason also applies to the diaries that the request deals with, which were not submitted to the district court due to Zaken's failure to take the witness stand.".
""Given the nature of the materials presented to us, which relate to the focus of the state's claims in the appeal with regard to the 'Talansky affair,' it is appropriate that these materials be brought before the District Court, so that it may consider its decision in light of them.".
Olmert's defense team responded: "We respect the Supreme Court's decision. We intend to present all the evidence required in this matter to the District Court, and we are confident that even after the matter is heard and fully resolved, this will not change the decision to acquit Mr. Olmert in the Talansky case.".
Grunis emphasized that not all of the materials provided by Zaken will be presented in court, but only those he explicitly noted. "The tapes include conversation segments that are irrelevant to the state's claims in the request to collect evidence or that could violate his privacy and that of third parties.".
A gag order is imposed on the content of the recordings, and it will only be lifted after the recordings are submitted to the district court.
In the Talansky affair, Olmert was accused of receiving hundreds of thousands of shekels in envelopes from businessman Maurice Talansky. This affair led to his resignation as prime minister, after then-state attorney Moshe Lador decided to hold a preliminary hearing for Talansky.
Olmert was acquitted in the case in the Jerusalem District Court in June 2012, and the prosecution filed an appeal in September 2012.
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