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Last update - 10:12 11/04/2008 Six comments on the situation By Yoel Marcus Tags: Mazuz, sex crimes, Katsav  1. Time will tell if Moshe Katsav was wise to cancel the plea bargain at the last minute and refuse to say "I admit it." The media spent the week churning out thousands of words of commentary and analyzing the odds. The response was part national mortification, part lynching. They say that journalists knew for years that Katsav was a sexual harasser but no one got up to keep him from being elected president and no one said a word while he was in office. Now, with all the media frenzy, it is worth remembering that he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt, same as any other citizen, until proven otherwise. See you in a year from now. 2. You don't have to be a great expert in body language to see how cruel it is to drag Gila Katsav along and make her stand beside him at all these embarrassing events, including that mind-boggling press conference where he lashed out at those who "libeled and defamed him." On Tuesday, dressed in a flowered jacket, her face made up like a doll, she accompanied him to the courthouse. With a smile but looking like she was on the edge of tears, what she aroused most of all was pity. There is no evidence for rape? So what do you call what he is doing to his wife? 3. Since the assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah, whose car was blown up in Damascus, the government and defense establishment have been scaring us silly. When the 40 days of mourning are up, they warn, there will be terrorist attacks like we've never seen before. The airlines are being told to introduce drastic security measures. Israeli tourists are being urged not to stand out in a crowd when they go abroad. Jewish leaders have been alerted to the possibility of an attack on a Jewish community center somewhere in the world. Ministerial security has been doubled and tripled. If revenge is so likely and the government is so worried, the question is: Why did he have to be bumped off. Whatever happened to the principle of looking before you leap? Advertisement 4. Who authorized Benjamin Ben-Eliezer to warn Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Iran will be wiped off the face of the earth if it dares to attack Israel? Iran knows exactly what we are capable of without Fuad's two cents. Apropos intimidation, how smart is it to conduct maneuvers on the northern border at this particular date and time? Syria is apprehensive enough as it is about another Israeli-American operation, after the bombing of that "facility" no one is allowed to talk about, although everyone knows what it is. What is the point of stressing them out even more with our denials? "What does she mean when she says no?" goes the refrain of a popular Hebrew song. The Syrians are probably asking the same question. 5. During the peace talks with North Vietnam, Henry Kissinger coined the phrase that peace is made with one's enemies. But the condition is that your enemy is tired of war and has leaders who are capable of reaching an agreement. It is not at all certain that the call by cabinet ministers and Knesset members, first and foremost Fuad Ben-Eliezer, to free Marwan Barghouti, who is sentenced to five life sentences for the murder of Jews in terrorist attacks, will advance the cause of peace. True, as head of the Tanzim, he tugged at our heartstrings many years ago with his talk of peace and reconciliation. But when the Palestinian Authority embraced terror, he was one of its most lethal practitioners. Since going to jail, he has returned to playing the harbinger of peace, and keeps in touch with the leaders of the Israeli peace camp. But releasing him now is a dangerous gamble. For starters, he is liable to topple Mahmoud Abbas and company, who are our partners in dialogue, for good or for bad, without our knowing for sure that he won't link up with Hamas. 6. I am not a great soccer fan, and no one has ever caught me watching a game from beginning to end. But my attitude to soccer has undergone a sea change since Avram Grant was appointed manager of Chelsea. The rude welcome he has received from British sportswriters, with its sprinkling of veiled anti-Semitism, has turned me into a diehard spectator of every Chelsea game. I want to see Avram win and those sportswriters eat their hats. But what's a man to do? Chelsea will soon be playing against Liverpool, and our own Yossi Benayoun. We'll manage, I guess. At least wars of the Jews are something we're used to. Bookmark to del.icio.us   'No good Jewish men' Author David Seidman delves into the dark side of dating, and confesses: 'I am a bad Jew.' Remembrance trail Holocaust memorial steam-drawn train sparks bitter row in Berlin.   1.   BECAUSE ISRAEL CAN: IT WAS FUN AS WELL 10:30  |  indrajaya 11/04/08   2.   A good thing to bring up Katsav`s dragging Gila into his problems 10:31  |  S 11/04/08   3.   MAN WHO KILLS MAN WHO NEVER AFRAID, who dont kill ! who afraid ! 10:39  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 11/04/08   4.   "Her face made up like a doll" 10:58  |  Clickfool 11/04/08   5.   Answering # 4 11:02  |  Clickfool 11/04/08   6.   Yoel Marcus and his comments 11:03  |  Amnon HaCohen 11/04/08   7.   Barghouti 11:09  |  Natallie Durson 11/04/08   8.   mr. marcus is right with all his six comments 11:25  |  saul a. readner 11/04/08   9.   No one ever gets away with murder 12:15  |  El-Birawi 11/04/08   10.   Yoel Marcus should be glad that Israel has only 2 "horses"...... 12:40  |  Swiss (Dino) 11/04/08   11.   two comments on "Profesora" Durson 12:57  |  Chicano 11/04/08   12.   It Is Time For Katsav To Return To Iran 14:40  |  Yaakov Sullivan 11/04/08   13.   Mugniyaka removed for the sake of JUSTICE 15:51  |  Logical Guy 11/04/08   14.   Birawi`s no one 17:18  |  utagawa 11/04/08   15.   re 5 click speak 18:05  |  Alan the real one 11/04/08   16.   Marcus - The Urge to Appease 18:06  |  Tod Zuckerman 11/04/08   17.   For Alan # 15 18:56  |  Clickfool 11/04/08   18.   Mughniyah logic 19:03  |  open eyes 11/04/08   19.   Menachem Begin`s Clone? 19:31  |  Knott Bushman 11/04/08   20.   AMERICA SHOULD FREE POLLARD. BARGHUTTI IS SAFER IN ISRAEL JAIL))) 22:59  |  VOICE))))))))) 11/04/08   21.   #8 saul a readner, Responding only to Yoel Marcus articles? 23:54  |  Smadar 11/04/08   22.   Palestinians will only follow Barghouti if he supports terror 00:18  |  McQueen 12/04/08   23.   smadar 09:29  |  saul a. readner 12/04/08   24.   smadar 10:36  |  saul a. readner 12/04/08   25.   @19 Knot-Head 01:58  |  EGW 13/04/08

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