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Daybreak: High-Profile Pols Fingered in Israeli Bribery Scandal

Plus prayer-on-prayer violence, the Iran question, and more in the news

by
Hadara Graubart
April 15, 2010
Olmert arriving in a Jerusalem court for a hearing on different graft charges last year.(Yossi Zamir/AFP/Getty Images)
Olmert arriving in a Jerusalem court for a hearing on different graft charges last year.(Yossi Zamir/AFP/Getty Images)

• Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been confirmed as the long-suspected “senior personality” in a massive real estate bribery scandal that took place during his term as mayor of Jerusalem; another former mayor, Uri Lupolianski, has been arrested for his involvement. [Ynet]

• Palestinians are blaming Jews for vandalizing a mosque in the West Bank—a likely guess, as the graffiti found there includes the Hebrew prayer “Praise be onto him for not making me a gentile.” [Haaretz]

• Turkey’s complicated relationship with its neighbor may make it a “wild card” when it comes to sanctions against a nuclear Iran. [JTA]

• Meanwhile, Ronald S. Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, issued an open letter reminding President Obama to focus on the Iran threat and stop picking on Israel. [JPost]

Hadara Graubart was formerly a writer and editor for Tablet Magazine.