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No tolerance for corruption By Haaretz Editorial Tags: corruption, Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert's announcement that he will not run in Kadima's September primary proves that something important has happened in Israel. Even before it was decided whether charges would be pressed, the prime minister concluded that the public had judged his case. This time public norms preceded the law, as should happen in matters pertaining to public figures. It is not the law that has changed in recent years, nor have the law-enforcement authorities become stricter; the public mood has changed. For the public not to be completely fed up with politicians and label them all corrupt, there is a need for change. Behavior that used to be acceptable as long as a court did not rule otherwise is now unacceptable from the start. Olmert is not the first public figure who took advantage of his public office to fund his hedonism. He is not the first to have received gifts or to fly first class at someone else's expense - whether a non-governmental organization or a body for which he volunteered. He is not the first alleged to have stayed in a suite that no civil servant can pay for on his own, and not the first to have allegedly arranged for himself, family and friends unusual benefits, loans on terms reserved for grants, and discounts at hotels and on homes - everything that power and connections can get. He is not the first, but he may be the last. Anyone who runs for any public office from now on, however senior the position, will have to take into account the new norms. In order that police chiefs, chiefs of staff, rabbis, council heads, mayors, prime ministers, department heads in public hospitals - in short, anyone receiving wages from the public - are not surprised in the future and do not feel persecuted, it is best if they keep their hands clean and adopt the modesty their salary requires. Advertisement What in recent years was seen as overly self-righteous and purist persecution by the state comptroller, media, police, prosecution and the courts has turned out to be an adjustment of the systems. Olmert is going home because the response "I do not remember" may be acceptable in a criminal investigation, but it is not acceptable to the public's sense of cleanliness. The published questions and answers in the questioning of Olmert and U.S. fund-raiser Morris Talansky, and the pages from the log of Olmert's loyal secretary, are enough to crystalize public opinion against his conduct. If Olmert has explanations, as he claims to, he has so far not voiced them to the investigators. The difference between required public norms and the necessary evidence for a criminal conviction still stands, and Olmert is still innocent until proven otherwise. But from the public's point of view, there is enough evidence for him to be ineligible to hold office. Had the transcripts of the questioning not been released, no one would have known how silent he has kept. Unfortunately, what did not happen in the cases involving Ariel Sharon and his family - when Gilad Sharon's answers on the money he received from David Appel lacked any basis but were insufficient to end his father's tenure - happened now. Olmert, like presidents Ezer Weizman and Moshe Katsav, was forced to resign because of unacceptable norms that have not yet become charges, because there is no longer any tolerance for inappropriate behavior. Bookmark to del.icio.us   History in the making N.Y. governor pays historic visit to Orthodox synagogue for Sabbath services. Under the rubble Five Palestinians suffocate to death after Egypt blows up tunnel.   1.   Absolutely! Corruption always destroys excellent societies. 10:42  |  S 01/08/08

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