Reported from Jerusalem
1. ATTORNEY GENERAL FAVORS SHARON INDICTMENT, OTHERS CAUTION ABOUT RUSH TO JUDGMENT… Although the investigation into a scandal centering on allegations of bribery tied to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his sons has been on-going for many months, it was only on Wednesday that the affair escalated into international news and domestic front-page discussions of an impending resignation and the fight for succession. It was then that an indictment against businessman David Appel, charged with bribing Sharon, was amended with specifics that directly accused the Sharons of knowingly participating in the scheme. Although Israel’s acting Attorney General Edna Arbel has indicated that she supports indicting the prime minister himself, others in the government have cautioned against jumping to conclusions of Sharon’s guilt. The police commander of criminal investigations agrees with Arbel. The decision will be made by a newly-appointed Attorney General who will take-up the office next week. Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, who is a member of Sharon’s cabinet and ruling coalition, said that the charges against Appel do not necessarily implicate Sharon or Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is also a subject of the investigation. But the legal correspondent of state radio said that it is “not reasonable to believe that Sharon did not know what this money was being offered for.” Appel is accused of bribing then-Foreign Minister Sharon to get his help in pursuing a real estate development deal in Greece that never materialized along with a failed-attempt to develop land near Tel Aviv. A second Sharon scandal continues to simmer and may also produce indictments. That one relates to Sharon’s improper financing of debt incurred from having to pay back illegal campaign contributions.
2. ASSESSING THE THREAT OF RESIGNATION… Prior to Wednesday’s news of the severity of evidence against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his two sons, the newspaper Haaretz polled citizens about the scandal. 64 percent of those questioned believed that if Ariel Sharon was involved in criminal affairs, he would have to step aside. While a determination of whether the prime minister is “involved in criminal affairs” would be fodder for a boisterous public debate, the issuance of an indictment – as is being recommended by Israel’s acting Attorney General – would trigger the legal requirement that a prime minister under indictment step aside pending the outcome of the case. The poll taken before the latest revelations had already indicated that 68% of the nation disbelieved Sharon’s insistence that he knew nothing about the subject transactions. Sharon is due to face police investigators in a new round of interrogation “under caution” – a legal term meaning that his answers can and will be used against him. Attention will now focus on the new Attorney General who will take office next week and whether he makes the decision to indict. An indictment will remove Sharon, but it is unlikely that anything less will cause him to step down.
3. WOULD-BE SUICIDE BOMBER APPREHENDED BY ISRAELI FORCES… Acting on information obtained when his operator was apprehended last week, Israeli security forces arrested a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization it says was planning a suicide attack inside of Israel. Ten other wanted Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces on Wednesday. Operations aimed at locating and destroying tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt through which arms and terrorists are smuggled continued. At least one more tunnel was discovered. The army is investigating the death of a Palestinian woman who was said to have been killed by tank fire while in the yard of her home.
4. ISRAELI GENERAL GIVES SYRIA WIGGLE ROOM ON MISSILE ATTACK… An unnamed Israeli general was quoted by Haaretz newspaper as saying that Monday’s missile attack on an Israeli bulldozer clearing explosives on the border with Lebanon was a spontaneous act by the Hizbullah forces on-the-spot and was not coordinated with Syria. One soldier was killed and one seriously injured in the incident. The officer cited the details in explaining why Israel took no retaliatory action against Syria. He did, however, claim that the air strike at two Hizbullah training bases in Lebanon was successful.
5. ISRAEL BACKS DOWN ON THREAT TO BOYCOTT SWEDISH GENOCIDE CONFERENCE… The exhibit that prompted Israel’s Ambassador to Sweden to tear out its wires and pull down its light fixtures will remain on display and Israel will nevertheless attend the genocide conference in Stockholm, albeit without the participation of its president. The Swedish government will, however, take down publicity photos featuring the smiling face of a female suicide bomber from around Stockholm. And thus, apparently, ends the diplomatic row that erupted when the work of “art” called “Snow White and The Madness of Truth” appeared at an exhibit tied to the conference called “Preventing Genocide” and triggered the rage of Ambassador Zvi Mazal. Mazal has said in interviews that he has no regrets over his actions. The suicide bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, who killed 21 Israeli Arabs and Jews in Haifa last October, was depicted sailing in a boat on a sea of blood.
6. ARABIC BALLOT BEING DRAWN IN MICHIGAN… Arabic-speaking Democrats who plan to vote in Michigan’s February 7th caucus will be able to use a ballot translated into their native language. The Michigan Democratic Party is working with the Arab-American Institute to translate the ballots into Arabic as they have previously done for Spanish and even Polish-speaking voters. If the federal government listed Arabic as a minority language as it does with Spanish and Chinese, any municipality or counties with five percent speakers of that language would be required to provide ballots in that language. Since Arabic is not so listed, the translation is being done as a courtesy of the party.