Last update - 00:00 05/02/2007
PM to legal authorities: Don't stop investigating and examining
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday told law enforcement agents to investigate every questionable incident brought to their attention, and to work toward the goal of "fixing the world."
"Don't stop investigating, don't stop examining, don't stop aspiring to fix the world we live in," he told participants at a ceremony marking the Knesset's 58th anniversary.
Olmert, who himself faces a number of police investigations, added, "Do this in good faith, with integrity, with efficiency, by investigating every incident and its circumstances while remaining purified from every poisonous environment and attempts at external influences."
Olmert also called on Knesset members to continue to "protect the institution of the law, on the citadel of democracy, along with the Supreme Court."
Justice Mishael Cheshin, the retired deputy Supreme Court president, on Monday attacked the Knesset for what he called its failure to fulfill its duty of checking up on the government.
According to Cheshin, Knesset scrutiny of the government has weakened considerably, leaving open the danger of the government gaining control of the Knesset.
"This hurts the immunity of democracy... when laws initiated by the government pass rapidly and by guillotine," he said.
Cheshin, who was participating in a special meeting of the Knesset Education Committee in honor of the Knesset's anniversary, added "the Knesset has no right to relinquish the honor of the nation."