- "Like Nixon, Sharon believes that anything is legitimate
to get into power and hang on to it as long as possible. To hell with the
law. To hell with the price tag."
-
- One of the classic scenes in American politics is the
emotional television appearance of President Nixon during which he uttered
that immortal sentence: I am not a crook. As a president, Nixon did some
great things. He ended the Vietnam War, established relations with China,
sent an airlift to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. But he was also a
crook. His involvement in the Watergate scandal, the main charge being
interfering with a federal investigation, led, in the end, to his resignation
from the presidency in return for a sweeping pardon.
-
- Some people in our neck of the woods have proposed that
the law enforcement authorities, in cooperation with the president, grant
Sharon a pardon in advance, on condition that he step down. Although there
has been a precedent, in the form of the Shin Bet pardons, this is more
wishful thinking or a sign of deep desperation over the accusations of
bribery and breach of trust that loom over Sharon's head than a realistic
possibility.
-
- But in this difficult hour in the life of the state,
there is reason to be concerned about a prime minister who barricades himself
behind his sons' right to silence and owns a ranch that enjoys police immunity,
at a time when the homes of citizens can be freely entered to impound property
for something as niggling as non-payment of a TV licensing fee.
-
- The tape shown by David Spector on Nissim Mishal's talk
show this week is not connected to the Cyril Kern affair; the Annex Research
straw company affair; the Greek island affair, the affair of the high-flying
millions that went from South Africa to America to Vienna and finally landed
here; or any of the other affairs the Sharons are suspected of being mixed
up in. But those who shrugged off the importance of the Spector spectacle
are wrong. This tape actually pulled the rug out from under Sharon's claim
that he didn't know, wasn't involved, had nothing to do with the financial
deals that culminated in his electoral triumph.
-
- Not only the police, but also the ordinary citizen will
find it hard to swallow the claim that a control freak like Sharon knew
nothing, heard nothing and saw nothing. Sharon has sharp eyes and doesn't
miss a trick. He knows every stone, every shed, every caravan in the outposts.
He knows when they got there and how. He can identify every sheep on his
ranch. With my own eyes, I saw him spot a lone sprinkler on the other side
of a field that wasn't working. How could he not know what was going on
in his own house?
-
- On Spector's tape he not only goes into the nitty-gritty
of various financial matters, but he talks to Spector in code. "Can
I get that paper?" "Can someone find out if something has already
come in? It's important for me to know." What does he mean by "that
paper"? What does he mean by "something"? What is supposed
to "come in"? Come in to where?
-
- Spector the tape expert doesn't come out of this program
looking like a saint. But that's exactly the point. How does it happen
that Sharon, or the Sharons, get hooked up with such a character and help
him sabotage Olmert's election? Why would they get involved with a guy
like David Appel, who is standing trial for bribery? Why do they star in
dozens of taped conversations with him, now in the hands of the police?
Is this what MK Limor Livnat was talking about when she said that criminals
are taking over the Likud?
-
- There are two problems in this affair. One is related
to the culture of government and the norm that anything goes when it comes
to getting into power and staying there. Another month, another year, until
2007, hey - why not 2010? The longer the enforcement authorities take to
issue an indictment, also because they are being held up by the right-to-remain-silent
plea, the easier it will be for Sharon to follow the Aryeh Deri precedent
one fine day and claim he is a victim of "delayed sentencing."
-
- The second problem is the extent to which being suspected
of a criminal act affects the decision-making power of a leader who faces
a stalled negotiating process and signs that terror is resuming. People
who know Sharon well say that he has undergone a transformation and is
now ready to move forward on evacuating the Gaza Strip. Well, let's say
he is. But is he capable of reaching any kind of rational decision together
with the government when the sword of Damocles, in the form of an indictment,
hangs over his head?
-
- Like Nixon, Sharon believes that anything is legitimate
to get into power and hang on to it as long as possible. To hell with the
law. To hell with the price tag.
-
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- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/383696.html
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