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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: RJC2006 who wrote (3136)	8/25/1998 5:19:00 PM
From: Doughboy	Respond to of 13994

And women is not the only thing Bibi lies about: [TIME MAGAZINE] WHAT DID BIBI KNOW? AFTER A SINGLE TV BROADCAST, A RAUCOUS SCANDAL RATTLES ISRAEL'S PRIME MINISTER AND HIS CABINET BY BRUCE W. NELAN If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to change the subject, he picked a risky way to do it. For the past month Israel's newspapers and television had been obsessing over a raucous political scandal involving charges of backroom deals to protect a member of the governing parliamentary coalition from a possible criminal conviction. Last week Netanyahu managed to knock that story off the front pages by announcing a long-delayed government decision to build a new neighborhood in East Jerusalem for 30,000 Jewish settlers. The risk is that the Palestinians, who insist East Jerusalem will one day be the capital of their own state, might respond with another explosion of violence. Either way Netanyahu's breather will be short. The overheated political scandal is sure to bounce back to the top of the Israeli news this week or next, when a national police investigation is expected to wind up and possibly lead to formal charges. Against whom is not clear. But senior ministers in Netanyahu's Cabinet admit publicly that if he or his associates are directly implicated, the Likud-led coalition could fall. Officials of the opposition Labor Party are already chortling about the need to get ready for new elections. Netanyahu advises them to "have patience," since he plans to be around for four more years. The uproar began in January, when Netanyahu appointed Roni Bar-On, a lawyer and Likud activist, as the new Attorney General. Politicians, jurists and editorial writers considered Bar-On spectacularly unqualified for the job and fired off a barrage of derision. When the Supreme Court agreed to review the appointment, Bar-On resigned without even visiting what would have been his office. Bad enough, but worse was coming. Later in January ace crime reporter Ayala Hasson appeared on television's Channel 1, claiming that Bar-On had been appointed as part of a secret deal with Aryeh Deri, political leader of the Orthodox religious party Shas. According to Hasson's story, the two Shas members sitting in the Cabinet would vote for Netanyahu's much disputed agreement to take Israeli forces out of Hebron if Bar-On got the Attorney General job. If not, Deri would pull Shas out of the government and bring it down. The startling, possibly criminal clinker in this tale is the alleged explanation of why Deri was so eager to see Bar-On as Israel's chief prosecutor. Deri, a young political star with a checkered career, has been on trial for more than three years on bribery and fraud charges. In the now famous TV report, Hasson claimed that Deri had obtained a promise from Bar-On that he would arrange a misdemeanor plea bargain that would let Deri off the hook and even allow him to enter the Cabinet. That, if true, would be obstruction of justice. Everyone involved, including Bar-On and Deri, is denying everything. Netanyahu called the report "a complete fabrication" and said he had appointed Bar-On on the recommendation of his Justice Minister and with the approval of Israel's Chief Justice. The minister now says he first got Bar-On's name from Netanyahu. Hasson, who has scored some big scoops before, says there is firm evidence behind her report and she is "absolutely convinced of my facts." Netanyahu insists the liberal media are out to get him. Even though the furor is based on a single TV broadcast, Netanyahu called for a full investigation. Senior police officers are interviewing dozens of politicians, including Netanyahu. At his four-hour session with the police, the Prime Minister was "cautioned" that whatever he said could be used in court later. The caution didn't necessarily mean he is suspected of anything, though much of Israel thought it did. Netanyahu promptly hired Yaacov Weinroth, one of the country's best defense lawyers. Only a sliver of corroboration has filtered into public view. In the middle of the flap, one of Deri's attorneys, Dan Avi-Yitzhak, quit. The lawyer then released a letter that accuses Deri of slandering him because "I dared ... to oppose your plan to appoint Bar-On as Attorney General." Deri replied that the letter was a lie. Many Israelis have been disappointed in Netanyahu. They think he has blundered on several vital issues since becoming Prime Minister nine months ago. The governmental corruption implied by Channel 1's story would be on a scale unseen before in Israel, where sizzling scandals are almost commonplace. If it turns out to be true, Netanyahu would probably resign or the Knesset could force him from office. And just what is the government supposed to be guilty of? Swapping an Attorney General's post for votes on a must-win issue qualifies as fairly standard politics. Not ideal, but understandable to most Israelis. Criminal charges would emerge only if someone had promised Deri a corrupt plea bargain in exchange for the Shas votes. Even if that happened, it would take a long reach to hang it on Netanyahu since it would be difficult to prove what the Prime Minister knew and when he knew it. --Reported by William Stewart/Jerusalem