Money Talks! Albert Danon & Ehud Olmert

Sir, - It is not usual for me when reading Grapevine, Greer Faye Cashman's well written, entertaining, and lightly informative column, to feel deeply disturbed.

When reading, however, about the Gala Dinner hosted by Albert Danon where Ehud Olmert was the keynote speaker, I was both troubled and offended. The right of Danon to choose the speaker at a dinner paid for by him, is quite clear, but having money is by no means a sufficient qualification for him to preach to Israelis about his partisan political and social views.

Danon, who lived in Israel but then chose to make his home in Australia, nevertheless is critical of Israel, saying: "Here in this country, you take one of your best sons and bring him down." Danon not only denigrates Israel's entire judicial system but seems to be totally oblivious to the fact that the investigation has been very thorough, has gone on for years, and indictments have been issued against Olmert for several serious criminal offenses, from before and during his term as prime minister.

As for Olmert's 'almost' peace plan, it included a return to the 1947 borders and the division of Jerusalem, which completely ignored Israel's vital security needs and was quite clearly unacceptable to a majority of Israel's citizens.
         
ZEV CHAMUDOT
Petach Tikva

[Image credit: Antônio Milena]