A controversial Russian billionaire Arkady Gaydamak, who since immigrating has won popularity in Israel with major philanthropic projects, said in an interview published Sunday that he could run against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the next elections.

“I command enough public support today to be elected,” he told Yediot Aharonot. “If I decide to run, I’ll take 40 seats in the Knesset. The politicians know this and are afraid.”

Gaydamak, 54, is estimated to have a networth as high as $4 billion. Starting out as a laborer in France, Gaydamak worked his way up in the business world, leveraging his Russian language skills to start a business translation firm, Gaydamak Translations, in Paris and later using his Soviet contacts to launch a lucrative import-export concern.

After amassing considerable wealth in France, Gaydamak was forced to flee the country in 2000 when he learned that the French government was seeking his arrest in connection to arms dealing and tax evasion charges.

Gaydamak settled in Israel where he began rising to prominence for his sponsorship and purchasing of popular Israeli sports teams such as the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team Betar Jerusalem soccer team, Israeli Insider daily newsmagazine reports.

Gaydamak won the sympathy of northern residents during Israel’s war against Hezbollah this summer, when he organized a holiday camp south of Tel Aviv to shelter thousands of inhabitants who fled cross-border rocket attacks by the Lebanese Shiite group, the AFP reports.

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