Billionaire's spending on Israelis draws criticism

JERUSALEM — A Russian-born billionaire with a checkered past is throwing millions into Israeli business and charitable ventures, winning him legions of fans but drawing accusations that his generosity is self-promoting — or meant to fend off police investigations.

In his latest headline-grabbing move, Arkady Gaydamak paid last week for a Red Sea beach vacation for 3,000 residents of Sderot, a southern town pounded by Palestinian rockets. His aides estimated the cost at $800,000.

The weeklong vacation drew applause from Israelis who are both disappointed with the government's inability to halt the rocket fire and increasingly enamored of the country's most famous benefactor. But it brought criticism from officials including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who termed the getaway a "millionaire's promotional trick."

Gaydamak, 54, asserted in an interview that, although he doesn't know Hebrew and has no political aspirations, he's the most popular man in Israel, and politicians' criticisms are motivated by fears that he could win an election.

"They have no basic understanding that they are the people's servants, that they are representatives who are supposed to manage this society," Gaydamak said in English, calling Olmert — whose popularity is at an all-time low following Israel's inconclusive war in Lebanon — an "egoist" who "misunderstands his job."

A father of three who has homes in Moscow and the upscale Israeli town of Caesarea, Gaydamak has never been convicted of a crime but faces an international arrest warrant because of a French investigation into alleged arms trafficking to Angola in the early 1990s. The billionaire, who splits his time between Israel and Russia, recently attempted to buy the failing French paper France Soir, but was foiled by prosecutors who said any funds he moved into France could be seized.

He's also been investigated in a major Israeli money-laundering case. He has not been indicted, but police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the case remains open.

French and Israeli law-enforcement officials say the international warrant is not being enforced by Israel or Russia but Gaydamak could be arrested in some other countries.

Meanwhile, in Israel, where he first arrived in 1972, Gaydamak has become an A-list celebrity, enjoying the spotlight as the owner of one of the country's most famous soccer franchises, Beitar Jerusalem, whose fans composed a song comparing him to the Messiah. His son Alexandre has also acquired a soccer club, the English Premier League's Portsmouth.

Estimates of Arkady Gaydamak's wealth vary widely, between $800 million and more than $4 billion.