Subscribe to Print Edition | Mon., October 20, 2008 Tishrei 21, 5769 | | Israel Time: 10:45 (EST+7)
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Rule of Barak / See no evil, hear no evil
By Yossi Sarid
Tags: Israel news, Ehud Barak

Hello, Ehud, can you hear me? I have something urgent to ask you. Tell me, are you still there, in the Defense Ministry? Or are you too preoccupied with your deputy-prime-minister's title - senior deputy prime minister, needless to say - and your future position as opposition head?

If you are still defense minister, what do you do when you see on television (as the rest of us do) those confounded settlers coming down the mountain, swooping on Palestinians harvesting their olives, beating them, kicking them and stoning them?

What did you do immediately last night when you saw it? What are you going to do this morning as soon as you get to the office? Have you called on anyone to claim responsibility? Whom will you reprimand? Have you made it absolutely clear to your subordinates on the ground, from the brigadier general down, that you will not tolerate these outrages any more? Or are you just pretending as usual to be one of the Three Wise Monkeys - seeing nothing, hearing nothing and saying nothing?
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An olive harvest does not come as a surprise. The Israel Defense Forces prepares for it in advance, so it has been reported. But this entire, enormous army, the most moral army in the world, which has rehabilitated the deterrence force it lost in Lebanon - so they tell us - is incapable of deterring four villains who want to plunder everything, even the poor man's olives.

And how did it end? Your delegates, who do your dirty work, arrested "three left-wing activists" on the spot because they entered "a closed military area." Only the settlers are allowed to enter this area, on condition that they riot.

When you see all that, Ehud, aren't you ashamed for a moment? Or will you make do, once again, with our shame?

After all, today you are the champion of the rule of law and quality of government. You have already proclaimed that you would not join a government that would not hold the law supreme and preserve investigators, prosecutors and especially judges' dignity. Even an initialled coalition agreement would be nullified unless your demands as the keeper of the seal are fulfilled, you stated on Friday.

Good for you, Ehud, and shame on you, because you should be the one to enforce the law. But your tracks have been lost in the territories' sand.

Just a reminder: The illegal outposts are also waiting for you to move already, to move something. Hasn't the High Court of Justice spoken many days ago? Yet nothing is happening. What is going on with you? If you cannot even protect an olive picker, at least spare us your oily-slick words. Pour out your smugness on us instead.
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