Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., July 14, 2008 Tamuz 11, 5768 | | Israel Time: 01:01 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Bringing shame upon the state By Haaretz Editorial Tags: corruption probe, israel  The prime minister departed for Paris to take part in the Union for the Mediterranean conference being organized by the French president. Nobody anticipates any significant diplomatic achievements from the summit. The participants, who include leaders from the European Union, Arab countries and Israel, will arrive in Paris just so they won't be absent. The exception to this group is the Israeli prime minister. Ehud Olmert departs for Paris not to promote his country's interests, but to prove that his political life goes on. Since the police cannot issue an injunction barring him from leaving the country, he is free to bring shame on the citizens as he wishes. It is difficult to understand on whose behalf Olmert is making the trip to Paris and why he feels he is free to pursue any kind of political agenda. Olmert has no moral authority to even conduct a photo-op with Syrian President Bashar Assad, because such an event could herald the start of a process that he cannot oversee or even commit to overseeing in the future. Any obligation he gives, ceremonial or otherwise, is likely to be short-circuited by his personal predicament in light of the investigations against him. His trip to Paris is further proof of the continuing impotence of a political system that is unable to remove him from his post. The prime minister ought to have resigned after the Winograd Committee's interim report, which blamed him personally for the failure of the Second Lebanon War. Since then, Olmert has lost whatever moral authority he had left to run the affairs of state, due to the corruption charges that have surfaced. As more evidence accumulates, as more witnesses emerge, and as more information is revealed regarding people and organizations alleged to have funded his hedonism, the odds that the whole matter will be proven much ado about nothing become slimmer. Olmert's term as premier is over, but he continues to occupy the prime minister's chair and waste the country's time. Advertisement The Olmert case teaches us that the dynamic democracy that has taken shape in Israel has attracted too many backroom dealers who have exploited the public and too few leaders who serve the public. His survival in politics all these years and his survival in the prime minister's office despite the investigations; the suspicions about his conduct that have hovered over him throughout his public career and which have not stopped him from reaching the land's highest office; his ability to remain in his position even after all the revelations - all these prove that our immune system against corruption is not operating well enough. Instead of leaving for Paris, Olmert should have left the prime minister's residence for home. The Knesset should have voted no-confidence rather than waited for a Kadima primary or for the attorney general to announce an indictment. As the number of Kadima MKs and ministers ready to publicly defend the prime minister dwindles, and as the number of Olmert's paid advisers and lawyers grows, the Olmert administration becomes more disconnected and more vitriolic in its daily handling of affairs, and more infuriating in its defiance of logic. The pictures from the summit in Paris will provide a surrealistic look at this sad state of affairs. Bookmark to del.icio.us   History undersea Israeli lifeguard stumbles upon ancient relic during morning swim. Elections, Hebrew style U.S. presidential hopefuls use Hebrew to woo the Jewish community.   1.   Message to government 10:39  |  Pavel Goberman 13/07/08   2.   Olmert reporting 10:43  |  David Brandon 13/07/08   3.   Aren´t the travel agency invoices alone evidence to ground him? 14:38  |  AY 13/07/08   4.   Where has the Israeli society gone wrong? 15:21  |  AY 13/07/08   5.   #2 17:54  |  JL 13/07/08   6.   AY, OY G`VALD 18:31  |  JOJO 13/07/08   7.   SHAME..THIS IS NOTHING!!!! 20:46  |  Robert 13/07/08   8.   Disgusting Editorial 22:33  |  Ulf 13/07/08

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