Ehud Olmert & Morris Talansky

www.barrychamish.com


SIXTY YEARS OF WHAT? OLMERT; THE CRIME THAT WILL GO AWAY - by Barry Chamish

There is a gag order on details of Olmert's bribery crimes. The accuser, Morris Talansky, wants it lifted. He fears that, "Olmert will try to get me." Yet the order will only be partially lifted at best, because full disclosure could ruin Israel's 60th birthday celebrations at best, or it could ruin Israel altogether, at worst. So inane speculations that minor crimes like Talansky covering hotel bills become news, while the full force of the real crime remains buried.
And we are not speaking of the ugly truth that Olmert was the last appointment of Ariel Sharon before he suffered his debilitating cerebral hemorrhage on Jan 4, '06. Or that during the meeting, Sharon signed the papers making Olmert Prime Minister in the event of Sharon's demise.
No need to ask the really embarrassing questions when the crooked business leading up to Olmert's current crimes is so obvious and so hidden. Up until 2000, two government companies, Israel Aircraft Industries and Elbit, raised capital in New York for its company, ImageSat, selling intelligence space on Israeli satellites. One of the investors was Morris Talansky, but all investors were promised a near carte blanche on recruiting customers. In 2002, the investors had sold Venezuela $18 million in satellite space and were working hard on Russia and Angola. Since the US dislikes Venezuela with a flaming passion, the Israelis backed out of the sales recruitment clauses of the contract and threatened the backers with huge losses. So they sued the Israelis.
At a shareholders meeting, one investor, Morris Talansky must have said, "I have an insider in Israel. I've been funneling him money for eight years. He's on the verge of becoming a major government player and he'll do anything for money." In January 2003, Olmert acquired the two government cabinet posts required to change the errant satellite policies; Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor, and even more direct, Minister of Communications, in charge of the satellite industry. With their man in the right place, the bribes from ImageSat's New York board started flowing to Olmert's bag man, Uri Messer in amounts we can only estimate, but the leaks say hundreds of thousands of dollars. That may be proven bribes. It's probably a mere fraction of Olmert's far flung overseas bank deposits.
Now, all Olmert had to do was use his ministerial power to overturn some silly prejudices against Venezuela, Russia and Angola. But two forces were bigger than him; Sharon and the State Department. Sharon was rid of, as described in detail in my book Bye Bye Gaza. But even Prime Minister Olmert could not defy the State Dept. or its witch Secretary. They wanted "peace" and they did not want Venezuela, Russia or Angola getting pricey Israeli intelligence from space.
Olmert failed and ImageSat's board were mighty ticked off at all the bribes lost to him. So they set Talansky on him to get even. Olmert put into motion the standard Israeli coverup methods, including one that caused me to run from my home, a car "accident," this time against Messer, with further threats against Talansky if he opens his mouth in court. And with any luck, the gag order will outlast the witnesses. If all goes as is usual in Israel, the crime will fade away.
In 1990, I wrote a book called The Fall Of Israel (Canongate Publishers, Edinburgh). The villain was Olmert and I predicted that if he wasn't permanently removed from politics, his personal rot will fell Israel. I'll send the relevant pages to anyone who asks to see them. Meanwhile, I'll say no more. Follow the reports, ending with Olmert's criminal mob which includes the rabbi who invited the Nazi pope to speak at his synagogue.
With Olmert, Prime Minister and Peres, President, does anyone wonder why Israelis just don't feel like celebrating their sixtieth anniversary?

**

Olmert was elected as a member of the sixteenth Knesset in January 2003. He served as the head of the election campaign for Likud in the elections, and subsequently was the chief negotiator of the coalition agreement. Following the elections he was appointed as Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor. From 2003-2004, he also served as Minister of Communications.

On 7 August 2005, Olmert was appointed as acting Finance Minister, replacing Benjamin Netanyahu, who had resigned in protest against the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.


http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-nysdce/case_no-1:2007cv06176/case_id-309626/

Wilson et al v. ImageSat International N.V. et al

Plaintiffs: Stephen M. Wilson, BRW Engineering Ltd., Wis Partners Ltd., Moshe Bar-Lev, Patrick Rosenbaum, Michael Morris, Haim Yifrah, Top Down Partners, LLC, Joel Levine, Morris Talansky, Abraham Moshel, Magma International Services, Ltd., Albert Reichmann, Hexagram & Co. and Polybutes Company
Defendants: ImageSat International N.V., Israel Aircraft Industries, Ltd., Elbit Systems Ltd., Moshe Keret, Izhak Nissan, Jacob Weiss, Menashe Broder, Shimon Eckhaus, Michael Federman, Estate of Jacob Toren, Joseph Ackerman, Joseph Gasper, Gino Piperno-Beer, James DePalma, David Arzi, Yoav Chelouche and Yehoshua Eldar

http://muqata.blogspot.com/

Morris Talansky is a founding partner, and a major shareholder, of ImageSat , an Israeli company that rents out access to spy satellites and their high-resolution images -- often to governments, for purposes of military intelligence. ImageSat is enjoined by an agreement with the Israeli Defense Ministry from selling access or data to Arab states at war with Israel, or to the "rogue states" of Iran, Cuba, and North Korea. However, Talansky and his group of fellow shareholders are anxious for a quick return on their investment, and are less than happy with these pesky restrictions. They have attempted to skirt the ban on sales to Iran by negotiating a deal with notorious Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, a close ally of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. Chavez is a radical Marxist and anti-American, and like Ahmedinejad, has called for the destruction of Israel. Talansky's associate and fellow ImageSat shareholder Stephen Wilson began negotiating a large-scale deal with Chavez in 1999, and even moved to Venezuela in 2001. By 2002, he secured Chavez's interest in a multi-million dollar deal with ImageSat for spy satellite access.

But to the chagrin of Wilson, Talansky, and their fellow investors, ImageSat -- together with its parent companies, Israel Aircraft Industries and Elbit Systems -- balked at the deal for obvious security reasons. Enraged, Talansky and friends filed suit against ImageSat, in a bid to force them to provide Chavez with the spy data.

In the lawsuit, the investors also charge ImageSat with blocking similar lucrative deals they tried to make with Angola and Russia, also countries closely allied with Israel's enemies.

So while Talansky was fighting to circumvent Israel's security restrictions on ImageSat, he was also giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Israel's Minister of Industry and Trade, Ehud Olmert. It will be interesting to see whether the ImageSat conflict plays any role in the current investigation and expected indictment.

http://www.moc.gov.il/155-1815-en/MOC.aspx
03/09/2007

Minister of Communications on a visit at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Space Division, receives an explanation about the operation of IAI's Amos satellites.
(Right: Mr. David Pollack, CEO of satellite communications provider Spacecom. Left: Mr. Arie Helsband, Director of IAI's Mabat factory).

muqata.blogspot.com/2008/05/laundry-man.html

The Laundry Man

Morris Talansky, of course, is the suddenly famous American Jewish businessman who funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, currently under police investigation. The payments were made during Olmert's tenures as Jerusalem Mayor, and later as Minister of Industry and Trade, and were disguised as contributions made to the "New Jerusalem Foundation", a supposedly charitable organization under Olmert's direct control. Talansky operated as the NJF's main U.S. contact and treasurer.

Who, exactly, is Morris Talansky, and whose interests does he represent? Well, among other things, Talansky is an ordained rabbi, with semicha from YU, and he served once in a pulpit position in Portland, Oregon. He later went into business, and became embroiled in many conflicts and lawsuits with his various associates. These conficts are marked by allegations of violent threats and extortion, and a review of the court records paints the picture of a shady loan shark that seems to be a character right out of an episode of The Sopranos. From the New York Times:

At least two of the lawsuits involving Mr. Talansky contain allegations that he or people he enlisted made threats in the course of collecting debts or resolving business conflicts.

He sued one of his accusers, Richard Penzer, for libel in 1995 in state court on the grounds that the accusations had jeopardized Mr. Talansky's longtime job raising money for Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem. The case was settled three years later, when Mr. Talansky accepted $60,000 and a one-line apology from Mr. Penzer.

Initially at odds with Mr. Talansky over a real estate deal, Mr. Penzer had sent donors and officials associated with Shaare Zedek letters in 1994 asserting that Mr. Talansky had threatened him "with the expressed goal of extorting money".

Court records include a sworn statement from a police file, dated January 1992, in which a Long Island man said he had met Mr. Talansky one night at Scores, a topless bar in Manhattan, and tried to help him collect a debt from Mr. Penzer.

"He began to tell me about how he took a devastating loss of approximately $2.8 million in a real estate deal that went bad," the Long Island man, Michael Sciotto, told the police. "He was swindled and he described it as a setup."

The statement continued, "I told him I would talk to Mr. Penzer and see if I could shake him up a little and possibly could get Talansky¢s money back."

In another lawsuit, Mr. Talansky sued a man who he said promised him "substantial interest at low or no risk" on a $300,000 loan he made in 1998 to the Forgotten Woman, a retail chain that went bankrupt three months after his loan.

After much litigation, the defendant, Frederick Schulman, prevailed in court on the fraud counts but also made a counterclaim accusing Mr. Talansky of sending "thugs" to collect money from him.

Mr. Talansky replied that he had sold the right to collect part of the debt to a third party and could not be held responsible. The judge rejected Mr. Schulman's request for summary judgment on the extortion charge, but said he could pursue it in a trial. The parties eventually settled, according to a lawyer in the case.

Using the phony "New Jerusalem Fund" as a front, Talansky has been funneling money to Olmert for nine years. But Olmert isn't the only policitian Talansky has helped out: Over the last two decades, he has made generous financial contributions to the campaigns of Mayor Rudy Guilianni (Republican, 2000), President George W. Bush (Republican, 2003), Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Democrat, 1992), House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (Democrat, 1994) President Bill Clinton (Democrat, 1995). An equal-opportunity contributor, indeed.

In her written logs of Olmert's payments from Talansky, Shula Zaken, Olmert's personal secretary (recently placed under house arrest), Talansky is referred to as "The Laundry Man".

So Talansky is a colorful charcter indeed: A money-laundering loan-shark Orthodox rabbi who uses thugs to "shake up" his creditors, who meets with his business associates in topless bars, and who took on the role, for nearly a decade, of Ehud Olmert's patron.

But there's more to Talansky than this, much more. To call Talansky a hilul Hashem would be a gross understatement. As an orthodox Rabbi who, at best, operates in the gray zone of the law, he is certainly an awful embarrassment. But Talansky is far more than just a loan shark with a yarmulkeh: He is a man who does not hesitate to place his own narrow financial interests over the interests of Israel's security and the survival of his fellow Jews. It's very easy to understand why Olmert chose the patronage of such a like-minded person.

http://wtcdemolition.com/blog/node/1130

The central issue of this lawsuit, however, is whether or not a State owned company (like IAI, and its primary subcontractor in this case, Elbit) should be permitted to seek private capital financing as ImageSat did relentlessly and primarily in New York city between 1994 and 2000 (and as it succeeded in doing in an amount totalling roughly $120 million) to support the commercialization (and in this case the continuation) of its national defense programs and then subsequently renege on commitments to its U.S. based private investors, thus far, with impunity.

In fact, Israel's space program is now wildly successful, responsible for billions of dollars in R&D support and new contracts for ongoing technology development and commercialization that were supposed to be the exclusive domain of ImageSat and ALL of its shareholders, rather than, as is the case today, for the sole benefit of the Israeli industrial defense establishment, including in particular IAI and Elbit.

http://www2.nysun.com/article/58352

Stephen Wilson, an American investor and the lead plaintiff in the case, founded ImageSat in 1994. At the time, Israel and its defense manufacturer were "desperately seeking new sources of financing for the Israeli military space program," so they signed on to the idea and accepted the fact that the company would have to be apolitical, the suit says.

From the very beginning, ImageSat's political independence was a "fundamental, indeed essential, element of its business plan," the suit says.

The only limit imposed by the Israeli Ministry of Defense was that ImageSat could not sell satellites to any country within 1,550 miles of Israel, a radius that includes nations that have fought wars against Israel, such as Lebanon and Syria. Israel also forbade ImageSat from selling to "rogue states" as defined by America and Israel, consisting of Cuba, Iran, and North Korea.

At first, Israel lived up to its promise to keep its hands off ImageSat, according to the suit. In 1998, to prove that ImageSat would be allowed to function independently, the Israeli Ministry of Defense issued licenses allowing ImageSat to sell to 60 countries, including Venezuela in 1998.

The Ministry of Defense even refused a request by the American government to suspend ImageSat's business with India after that country tested a nuclear weapon in 1998, according to the suit.

But after 2000, Israel Aerospace Industries deserted its hands-off approach and began steering the company according to Israel's geopolitical interests, the suit says.

Venezuela provides the most blatant example of political meddling described in the suit. Mr. Wilson began pitching a deal to the Venezuelan government in 1999 and even moved to the country in 2001. By 2002, he had convinced Caracas to rent spy satellites from ImageSat for a price of $18 million or more a year, the suit says.

But while Mr. Wilson was on vacation in 2002, Israel Aerospace Industries halted the deal, the suit alleges. The company convinced Mr. Wilson to delay his return to Caracas so that he wouldn't find out that the deal had been secretly killed, the suit says. Mr. Wilson says he only found out the truth when a Venezuelan Air Force general told him the story.

From: "Israeli Uncensored News"

Uri Messer handled Morris Talansky donations for Olmert

Olmert’s long-time friend and fellow attorney Uri Messer reportedly cooperates with the police investigation against the prime minister regarding the American donations. The money in question were not Moshe Talansky’s but collected by him. It is unknown what part of the money Morris Talansky has pocketed. Thus, Talansky received $90,000 kickbacks as a salary in 2004 for collecting donations for Shaarei Tzedek Hospital. He is not donating his own money for the last decade.
Morris Talansky allegedly passed the money either directly to Olmert or to his secretary Shula Zaken. The funds were to be used for Olmert’s mayoral and the Knesset elections. Both Olmert and Shula Zaken passed the funds to Uri Messer to be spent for campaign purposes.
Uri Messer is married to Deputy Attorney General Davida Lachman-Messer, hilariously in charge of tax and corporate matters, the very field of Uri Messer’s purportedly illegal activities as an attorney. That makes is easier for Attorney General Mazuz to press Uri Messer to testify against Olmert.
We received a yet unconfirmed report of Uri Messer suffering an odd traffic incident. A sensible insurer won’t make a policy on his life now.

Dear Barry,

You have forgotten to mention that Schneir's son, the Rabbi Marc Schneier of Hampton, is the head of Ehud Olmert's Kadima organization in the USA.

In addition, the treasurer of Kadima USA is Marc Mishan, with quite a criminal background.

http://theunorthodoxjew.blogspot.com/2007/03/i-wish-i-was-wrong.html

It is furthermore alleged that at the urging of WJC officials, Prime Minister Olmert appointed Rabbi Schneier as president and Mark Mishaan as vice president of Kadima in the United States. Mishaan was obliged to resign when it was disclosed that he was a convicted criminal felon, possibly facing a lengthy prison sentence after pleading guilty to grand larceny. Additionally, sections of Kadima USA’s website had to be withdrawn from the internet after the media disclosed that Kadima USA had plagiarized portions of the Texas Democrat Party’s website into its policy program.

1. 1. WorldNetDaily: No. 2 for Israeli PM's party in U.S. a convicted criminal

www.worldnetdaily.com/new s/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51076

Marc Mishaan, who was listed as the vice president of Kadima USA, has been representing Olmert's political party at various public events the past few months. According to criminal conviction documents obtained from the New York state court system and to community leaders and associates of Mishaan speaking to WND, the Kadima representative has a long history of fraud, forgery and financial improprieties. One Jewish leader accused Mishaan of embezzling from his charity fund.

Kadima USA is the American fundraising and public support branch of Olmert's party. Jewish community leaders said they informed Kadima USA officials of Mishaan's documented criminal past, but they said Mishaan continued to serve in an official capacity even after they delivered their warnings. The Israeli Consulate in New York was still booking Mishaan to represent Kadima at proposed events as of last week. ... According to documents from the latest conviction, Mishaan was accused of taking $100,000 from a New York City woman by allegedly enticing her into a "mortgage loan-underwriting" arrangement - an arrangement the investigating detective wrote "never took place and did not exist." As described in the indictment, when the victim asked Mishaan for paperwork relating to the mortgage deal - after having already delivered the money to him - Mishaan allegedly presented her with fabricated papers including a "mortgage agreement" and "letter of intent" purportedly from an area dentist who wanted to borrow $200,000 from Mishaan at a high rate of interest for the purchase of a building. The indictment stated the dentist never met Mishaan, and contends both the documents and the dentist's "signatures" were forgeries. After noting anomalies in the alleged mortgage documents the accuser tried but failed to have her money returned.

Mishaan pleaded guilty to the charges in April after his motion to suppress evidence against him was denied. He is out on bail and is due to be sentenced next month. The New York State Supreme Court has placed conditions on Mishaan's bail. Apparently fearing Mishaan is a flight risk, the file for his latest conviction notes he has family in Israel. The court ordered Mishaan to surrender his passport, rendering him unable to visit the country whose prime minister he has been representing.

Kadima rep has extensive rap sheet In 2003 court documents show Mishaan pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny and two counts of felony criminal possession of a forged instrument. Though liable to up to 14 years in prison according to court papers, Mishaan's plea deal allowed him to serve two concurrent 5-year terms of probation. He was also ordered to repay $40,000 and $60,000 to two victims.

WND obtained copies of numerous judgments against Mishaan in which he was ordered to repay several New York residents tens of thousands of dollars each. Some of the complaints accused Mishaan of trying to fulfill promissory notes by using forged checks and checks drawn on defunct accounts.

WND has also learned of one case in which an alleged victim of Mishaan tried to arrange repayment through a mediator without going through legal proceedings. The alleged victim expressed concern that if Mishaan went to prison he would be unable to make restitution. 'I'll pay you back on Monday' A former self-described best friend of Mishaan, who agreed to talk to WND on background, recounted how his relationship with Mishaan changed from friend to victim. "Back in the mid-1970s we were very close friends. Mishaan comes to me on a Friday afternoon and says: 'Look, I really need to borrow some money, I need to borrow 3,000 bucks - but I'm going to pay you back right on Monday.' "I said 'Look, Marc, if you really need it you can borrow the money but you don't need to pay me back on Monday. Take a week or two. Why don't you just pay me back next Monday so it's not so hectic?' "He just insisted 'No, I'm gonna pay it back on Monday.' I said 'OK, Monday then.' It took me over two years to get the money back. He went and did this same thing to at least 20 other people." Several sources close to Mishaan told WND Mishaan soon began a pattern of moving from neighborhood to neighborhood in the New York City area, befriending residents, allegedly extracting money from them, and eventually leaving town. A former Mishaan friend told WND, "The lies just became outrageous. He started showing up at places, businesses, parties flashing all types of degrees and papers that said things like 'Dr. Marc Mishaan' and 'Marc Mishaan, Ph.D.' ...

WND talked with scores of people in the New York Jewish community who claim to have been defrauded by Mishaan. One woman said Mishaan drained her parents of "their entire life savings." A prominent community leader with Jewish national name recognition, who says he has overseen pro bono investigations of Mishaan on behalf of several of his alleged victims, accused Mishaan of exhibiting a "habitual" pattern of untruthfulness. "He has a long history of fraud and deception that goes back 30 years. ... A senior official of a respected New York City charity told WND his organization has also had dealings with Mishaan, who once served as a vice president of the charity. He accused Mishaan of writing checks to himself without authorization, totaling $8,000 in charity funds. "Everybody was just in shock," the official said. "Nobody in [name of charity] ever dreamed that any board member could do this. Mishaan was fired immediately from the board." ... The community leader said the warnings took place prior to the debate last month in which Mishaan represented Kadima USA. In a series of conversations with WND, Mishaan did not refute his alleged improprieties. He said he approached Kadima USA because he thought he could help with their cause.

Mishaan said he had a long history of "positive involvement" in Jewish communal affairs, including with Jewish charities and organizations seeking the return of missing Jewish soldiers. Several Jewish community leaders concurred, although those concurring said they were aware of the criminal charges against Mishaan.

Kadima USA President Schneier would not comment directly to WND. Instead he authorized Charley Levine, former CEO of a Jerusalem-based public relations firm, to speak on his behalf. "A few months ago [Mishaan] came to Schneier and presented himself as being able to help with Kadima," Levine said. ... "[Mishaan] was asked last month not to continue associating himself in any way with Kadima USA."

Schneier's office was called two weeks ago and asked if Mishaan continues to speak for Kadima USA. ... A secretary for Schneier called back the next day and affirmed that Mishaan continues to speak for Kadima in an official capacity. ... Mishaan was recently listed as vice president of Kadima USA on a full-page ad in the New York Times taken by the Israeli party.

**

TAKING BACK ISRAEL

Professionally recorded in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, it is my first impromptu interview on DVD. The subjects I was asked to comment on include Gush Katif, Sharansky, The Transfer Agreement, The Second Lebanon War, Rabin, etc., in short, my history of modern Israel. Within, I kid at times, am philosophical occasionally, but the core is very real. I outline practical, desperate steps needed to oust the ruling establishment and replace it with a government determined to save the state from ruination.
You've all seen the trailer of the DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBt-LxzXllA
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The Best Of Barry 2007 - A brand new MP3 with 124 radio shows from 2007. A week of me on one disc.
Preventing The Israeli Holocaust - Recorded in Denver last year, I outline the Israeli political disaster as it exists at this moment, complete with missiles.
The Vatican's New Crusade For Jerusalem - Recorded in Jerusalem and filled with expert guests, I explore the history, then and now, of the Vatican's covert fight to make Jerusalem its capital.
The Secret War Against The Settlers - How the Israeli ruling establishment works with the CFR to eliminate Judea and Samaria.
Who Murdered Yitzhak Rabin And Wayne Owens - Recorded in Salt Lake City, the first half is the complete Rabin assassination, followed by how the same gang did the same thing to Utah Congressman Wayne Owens.
Return Of The Giants - Strange aerial phenomena accompany the Oslo Accord.

This offer is limited to this article. And if you want my book Bye Bye Gaza, I have a few copies which I'll sign and send you for $25.

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Barry Chamish
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