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The prime minister vs. the State of Israel By Ze'ev Segal Tags: State Prosecution  The road to a headline reading "The State of Israel vs. Ehud Olmert," such as would appear on the first page of an indictment, is still long. The prime minister and his attorneys, after due deliberation, will presumably decide against waiving his right to a hearing with the attorney general before the latter decides whether to charge him. These deliberations over whether to request a hearing seem justified in light of the harsh statements, reflecting a lack of confidence, that the premier's cronies made in response to the attorney general's decision to "consider" indicting Olmert in the RishonTours double-billing affair. Moreover, some of the potential defendants and their attorneys would prefer to skip the hearing, so as not to reveal their defense strategies. Nevertheless, it seems likely that Olmert and his attorneys will ultimately opt for the hearing, at which their factual and legal arguments will be aired. This means that a final decision will be postponed for several months - though it is well-known that a hearing rarely succeeds in changing the initial decision, which requires a substantial degree of certainty. The case of former president Moshe Katsav, whose planned indictment was altered unrecognizably following a hearing, was a rare exception. Advertisement But the head of this caretaker government, who is being as hyperactive as someone who never intended to leave, still, via his cronies, attacked the prosecution. Thus he, the prime minister, positioned himself in opposition to the prosecution, which acts on behalf of the state. People in what is popularly termed "the prime minister's environs" charged that the prosecution decided to issue an announcement about its intention to indict in order to blunt the "blow" it will soon absorb by being "forced" to close Katsav's case. According to these associates, the attorney general's decision was "a planned ambush under the auspices of the law enforcement system." The prime minister's media advisor did not hesitate to declare, "The Justice Ministry could not be satisfied with anything less." The prime minister's attorneys announced that he rejects the suspicions against him out of hand. All this was done without raising so much as a single substantive argument - for instance, regarding the premier's actual knowledge of and involvement in the handling of his airline tickets, following the attorney general's finding that the agencies that financed Olmert's flights were given "a false picture ... on orders from, and with the knowledge of, Mr. Olmert." The question of what Olmert really knew could determine his guilt or innocence. Thus it would be appropriate for him to go public with his version of events. This could be done without fear that it would be construed as an attempt to coordinate testimony; the attorney general's detailed public announcement justifies a public response from the person who is about to be indicted. And when that person is the prime minister, this is not only his right, but his obligation, regardless of any legal advice that might try to dissuade him. Meanwhile, however, Olmert has already chalked up an achievement in the RishonTours affair: Other Israeli prime ministers have been investigated, and senior ministers have been indicted, but never before has a public leader leveled such harsh attacks in real time against the law enforcement agencies, which operate under difficult conditions in their battle against rising governmental corruption. These agencies are far from perfect; they sometimes drag out the decision-making process unconscionably or issue decisions at inappropriate moments. But from there to accusing them of "creating cases out of whole cloth," the distance ought to be large. Even Ya'akov Ne'eman, who has leveled harsh accusations against his investigation and trial, waited for quite some time before airing his accusations publicly - and he resigned as justice minister the moment the police investigation began, and was later cleared completely in court. The situation that has developed now is a public and constitutional absurdity: A prime minister who has resigned is presuming to run the nation's affairs full speed ahead, rather than declaring himself temporarily incapacitated and thereby transferring his authority to his deputy. The attorney general, for his part, sees the question of incapacity as a matter for the prime minister and the political system, rather than the legal system, to decide, as he told the High Court of Justice in July. And the court declined to intervene in the matter "at this stage," though it did not rule out the attorney general's power in principle to declare the premier incapacitated at some later stage. Given the attorney general's decision to consider indicting Olmert on a plethora of charges, including aggravated fraud, falsifying corporate documents and concealing income, it is hard to accept the prime minister remaining on the job for another several months, until a new government is formed following February's elections. The current situation is the result of transient political considerations trumping long-term values. Olmert is willing to neglect preparations for his hearing, inter alia, in order to prevent Tzipi Livni from taking his place, even though she would not be called prime minister: Only if a premier is declared permanently, rather than temporarily, incapacitated would the members of his Knesset faction choose someone to assume the title of prime minister, and Olmert can and should declare himself only temporarily incapacitated. And prime ministerial candidates Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak have declined to criticize Olmert's conduct, because they want to prevent Livni from sitting, however temporarily, in the prime minister's seat. And together, all of these developments have made a laughingstock of the fundamental principles of good governance. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Boycotting Wagner The composer's works will remain a sensitive topic in Israel for many years. Bound for Gaza The Libyan ship is the most notable attempt yet to break the Gaza blockade.

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