A much-probed PM - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Mon., October 15, 2007 ,

Israel Time: 21:10 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Print Edition

Diplomacy

Defense

Arts & Leisure

Real Estate

Jewish World

National

Advertising

Magazine

Week's End

Business

Opinion

Rosner's Domain

Anglo File

Books

Travel

del.icio.us

Digg It! new

Last update - 10:19 15/10/2007

A much-probed PM

By Yossi Verter

It was predictable. No one in the country's political or justice systems believed that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz would close the industry and trade ministry investigations, considered the meatiest and most explosive of the cases against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in terms of the material involved.

Still, expectations are one thing and official decisions are another. Overnight, Olmert has officially become the most-investigated prime minister in Israeli history, a multi-case leader. Overnight, the musings about his ability to concentrate on affairs of state, on the Iranian threat, on the tensions in the north and in the south, on the peace talks, have all become weightier, more disturbing. The investigations against the prime minister are piling up like dirty laundry on the bathroom floor. Even if nothing comes of them, no one can ignore the stench they give off for miles, to the ends of the earth, to the glory of the State of Israel.

It is true that previous Israeli PMs have suffered investigations and came out of them safely (sometimes by the skin of their teeth), but no prime minister in the past was ever forced to cope with such a burdensome batch of cases, most of them with an identical modus operandi: giving preferential treatment to friends or attempting to help them to move up in life. Plus, there's that whatitsname committee - Winograd - that is supposed to be issuing its final report on Lebanon War 2.0.

	Advertisement

Another man would have considered resigning, or going on vacation - but not Ehud Olmert. His response last night to the AG's decision was aggressive and oppositional: "These are superfluous investigations that will end without results ... Every halfhearted claim made turns into an investigation..." To reassure the worried populace, Olmert was quick to assure the citizens of the state, via the Prime Minister's Bureau, that he intends to continue to be involved "and to exercise his responsibility fully and vigorously for the benefit of the public in all areas under his care, as he did in the ministries of finance and of trade and industry."

This points to the most urgent item on the Olmert & Co. agenda: to send the public the clear message that there is a functioning prime minister in Jerusalem. Olmert knows that the first wave to hit him won't be a legal one, guilty or innocent; rather it will be an administrative one: prime minister, functioning or paralyzed.

What now? In the short term, nothing. These investigations will continue for a long time, for months. Olmert's popularity ratings will fall a little; in any event, they don't have far to go. The coalition will carry on. Police investigations interest Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor "Yvette" Lieberman and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai about as much as the rain in Spain. What worries them is the Annapolis summit. On that score they can probably relax. A leader in Olmert's condition cannot divide Jerusalem. Ariel Sharon withdrew from Gaza under the shadow of criminal investigations, but Gaza is not Jerusalem and Sharon was popular.

The steam released by the Labor Party last night, mainly from MKs Shelly Yachimovich and Ophir Pines-Paz, will not force Ehud Barak out of the coalition. They are sure to tell the party chairman that a values-based resignation from the coalition of the serial suspect will help his public image, but in all likelihood it would come off looking artificial rather than ethical. In a few days, the dust will settle. "Olmert's investigations" will become a constant companion for some time to come, like the changes in the water level of Lake Kinneret.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	Public discontent
	Teachers are replacing port workers in the public's mind as the 'serial national strikers.'


	Bad for academia?
	A Haifa professor says funding from corporations gives rise to some ethical conundrums.




1.	olmert insists on staying-he says to benefit the public ?	16:13	\|	yahn goodey	15/10/07

2.	Lead us like he lead us in Lebanan war against Nasarallah	16:54	\|	Norman	15/10/07

3.	I S R A E L?s P R I O R I T Y O V E R O L M E R T.	20:13	\|	H.H.M	15/10/07

4.	OLMERT needs to resign now. Enough ALready	21:06	\|	Shepherd	15/10/07

Today Online


	J'lem sources: Rice won't impose any conditions on Israel
	Responses: 302


	Amira Hass: Israel has turned the Gaza Strip into a zoo
	Responses: 262


	Draft constitution ignores question of who is a Jew
	Responses: 61


	Rabin assassin Yigal Amir asks to attend son's circumcision
	Responses: 79


	Haaretz.com TV: Despite lobby's power, U.S. Jews are losing their bond to Israel
	Responses: 55

More Headlines
21:03 Israel, Hezbollah conduct first swap since 2006 war; report: Israel received info on Ron Arad


21:02 ANALYSIS: Swap is at most a mutual gesture of good will


19:15 PM: Must Arab neighborhoods be defined as part of Jerusalem?


17:28 IAEA asks for information on any Syrian nuclear plans


18:51 Israeli Arab member of Galilee terror group convicted of killing soldier


14:39 Olmert and Holocaust survivors' groups agree on pensions hike


18:31 Pensioners' Party dismisses Knesset faction whip Moshe Sharoni


14:14 Envoy urges UN to quit Quartet over lack of regard for human rights


11:09 Opposition, coalition MKs call on PM to quit in wake of 3rd probe


14:12 Draft constitution ignores crucial question of who is a Jew