Central Islip, NY - Israeli Leader Olmert Asked The Federal Judge To Give A Break To Nathan Schlesinger

Central Islip, NY - Last Wednesday, a throng of supporters from Williamsburg's Orthodox community traveled to the federal courthouse in Central Islip, on Long Island, to show support for a powerful Brooklyn businessman named Nat Schlesinger, who was facing criminal sentencing.
In addition to showing up in the courtroom, Schlesinger's supporters sent dozens of letters to U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt urging lenience and describing Schlesinger as a generous and community-minded man. One of the letters was from Israel's current prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who wrote the judge that he had known Schlesinger for years.

Olmert's letter was written on official stationery from Jerusalem on September 11 of last year, when he was still vice prime minister of industry, trade, and labor. Olmert described his friend as "a man devoted to goodness and benevolence toward his fellow man and his community." He added that Schlesinger was a Holocaust survivor who had helped many minority families by giving them employment in his factory. "Thoughtfulness and respect of others were synonymous with his lifestyle. . . . Nat is the type of man who is always ready and willing to help," Olmert wrote.