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The final daze By Amir Oren Tags: Ehud Olmert, Israel  The criminal case against Ehud Olmert has evolved into one of the most complicated government crises in Israel's history. In light of the paralysis that has gripped the activists in the government and the Knesset, Olmert's entrenchment in the premiership can be compared to the most serious danger an organism can confront: not an external danger, nor one emanating from a limb - which can be cut off if it threatens the body's ability to function - but rather from its head. Other countries, and not necessarily those with a political tradition going back hundreds of years, have found ways (sometimes embarrassing ones) to deal with problematic developments at the top. Following the assassination of King Abdullah of Jordan, his son Talal was diagnosed as mentally ill and dismissed in favor of the late king's grandson Hussein, a minor; a council of regents ruled until he reached maturity. Toward what became the end of Richard Nixon's tenure as president of the United States, when he was having hallucinations and suffering from depression, defense secretary James Schlesinger made sure the army could not carry out a presidential order without his countersignature. A similar arrangement with regard to strategic affairs is standard practice in Israel: Olmert is not capable, for example, of bombing Iran without the agreement of his deputy, Tzipi Livni, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the relevant professional echelons. That is reassuring, but it's not enough. Livni has spoken out, but has not acted with respect to Olmert. She is burdened by the fact that she will be the immediate beneficiary if he is declared incapacitated. Her competitors in Kadima, and in particular Shaul Mofaz, are prepared to freeze Olmert in his position if that's what's required to prevent Livni from getting an advantage in the inheritance battle. Advertisement This lacuna, between entrenchment and incapacitation, which was created by the country's elected officials, will have to be filled by those who hold the three central law-enforcement positions in the country: the attorney general, the state prosecutor and the head of the police investigations and intelligence division. Menachem Mazuz is already four and a half years into his six-year term of office. The first indictment that he is supposed to file against Olmert will be the pinnacle of his originally hesitant fight against corruption in the public sector. It will be the first, but not the only one. Until recently, Mazuz did not appear to be cut from the cloth of a Supreme Court justice. Now that he has begun displaying greater decisiveness in leading the law-enforcement authorities' investigation of Olmert, however, he will be less attractive to the politicians as a candidate for advancement to the court, where his predecessor, Elyakim Rubinstein, now sits. The law that requires a special majority of seven of nine members of the committee that appoints judges will make it difficult for him. Talansky's return State Prosecutor Moshe Lador has been personally appearing at the head of the team prosecuting Olmert. Yesterday and today, he was due to spend tense hours in the company of main witness, Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky. Officials in the prosecutor's office were forecasting that Talansky's two days of cross-examination by the prime minister's attorneys - which may be augmented by more questioning should he be called back to the stand next week - will not proceed without some bumps, but also will not be disastrous. What will count will be the cumulative result of the previous testimony in May, and this round. The basic story of money being transferred to Ehud Olmert in an illegal fashion over a period of years is solid. Talansky's testimony is merely a colorful patch in a closely woven fabric of Israeli and American documents, and of investigative materials that have been gleaned from Shula Zaken, Olmert's former bureau chief, and Uri Messer, his former friend and legal associate. Justice Ministry officials say there have been lapses of memory and contradictions on the part of Talansky. The last person who should be allowed to benefit from such failings is Olmert, who said many times that he did not remember details when he testified in the North American Bank affair. That was two decades ago, when he was in his early 40s and sharp - and some 30 years younger than Talansky is now. Help from Dichter Over the past few weeks, Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter has given important assistance to the efforts of the law-enforcement system. Some of his predecessors in the post, including Uzi Landau and Gideon Ezra, had a tendency to demonstrate hostility toward those entrusted with the task of investigating public figures. Dichter did trip up in a series of unfortunate remarks before he came out against Olmert and blocked the demands by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann to investigate the investigators. However, Dichter does not often interfere with appointments within the police - also in contrast with his predecessors. He has only two important anchors: the deputy police chief and the "matrix method" - the system he favored for appointment of senior officials when he headed the Shin Bet security service. Under Dichter, a commander is not appointed without knowing who will be the brigadier general, an appointment that is in turn dependent on selection of the major general. When it comes to the senior ranks of brigadier general and major general, Dichter will hear the recommendations of police chief David Cohen and in most cases, if not all, will approve them. The exception is the appointment of the deputy commissioner, which the minister is supposed to dictate and the current commissioner needs to accept, because one of the commissioner's two deputies - or, if not one of them, then Benny Kaniak, a former deputy commissioner who is now head of the prison service - is expected to become the next police chief, in May 2011. In order for the mid-term changes to go into effect, in May 2009, they have to be announced now. The first of these will be the appointment of the next deputy commissioner, who will take up his post at the conclusion of deputy commissioner Shahar Ayalon's two-year stint. The commander of the Southern District, Uri Bar-Lev, is the candidate preferred by those officers who are not candidates for the position, and for that reason is not popular with his competitors in the senior ranks. Bar-Lev will not retire from the Southern District if another major general gets the nod. He will, rather, bide his time, since circumstances can very well change. The appointment of the deputy commissioner will set off a chain reaction that will have an influence on the investigators as well, since the position of commissioner will be blocked to them for the following six years. The command over the vacated districts is likely to be requested by Major General Yohanan Danino, who currently is in charge of the Investigations and Intelligence Branch. As a general rule, the heads of this branch are supposed to serve in the post for three or four years. Danino was appointed a little over two years ago. He is a lawyer and has not made secret his desire to advance to one of two positions, or to both of them, one after the other, when the time comes - those of commissioner of police and the state prosecutor. In the eyes of lawyers, investigators and politicians, the three most important positions that Danino has filled in order to be considered for the state prosecutors' office are head of the unit that combats organized and international crimes, head of the operative staff of the internal security minister, and head of the investigations and intelligence branch. In the eyes of other policemen, the three important positions that Danino has not filled are those of a station commander, regional commander and district commander. Serving as commander of a district could prepare him for competing for the position of police chief. After an indictment in the Olmert case, Danino would be able to move from strength to strength, as head of investigations and intelligence to a district command. The main organizational mission of the next head of investigations and intelligence is breaking down the barriers between the National Fraud Unit, the unit for combating international and organized crime, and the economic crimes investigation unit, in order to set up a real umbrella unit. To that end, the fraud unit will have to move from Bat Yam, and the investigations and intelligence unit from Petah Tikva, to the building that houses the economic unit in Lod. When the move is completed, that same warehouse in Lod that was turned into an office building is supposed to become the visual manifestation of Israel's bureau of investigations. The shock of the Olmert cases might bring about another necessary change: the elimination of the Internal Security Ministry. The police and the state prosecution should share the responsibility of building a justice and law-enforcement ministry that includes the prison service. The security sphere, including the Home Front Command, should be overseen by a deputy minister in such a combined ministry, rather than by the deputy defense minister. The minister of justice and law enforcement, like his American counterpart (who is also responsible for the Federal Bureau of Investigation) is one of the four most important ministers, alongside the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, commerce and industry. A similar status is held in Britain by the minister of the interior, who is responsible for both the police and the secret service. The temporary obstacle to change in the coming weeks, or perhaps even in the coming days, is Olmert. Bookmark to del.icio.us   The bigger apple Study shows Tel Aviv is more expensive to live in than New York. When bedbugs bite After 40 years' absence, Israel braces for return of the bedbug.

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