Chairman Uri Ariel of the Knesset State Control Committee reacted to Tuesday morning's conviction of former prime minister Ehud Olmert's conviction on breach of trust charges by calling it, "a difficult day, a black stain on Israel and a serious crisis in the faith of the public in Israel's leadership and elected officials."
Referring to the lack of conviction in the Rishontours and Talansky cases, Ariel said, "At the same time, the acquittals are a day of atonement for prosecutors and indicate that the prosecutionsuffered seriousfaults,and thereis no escape fromestablishing a real external and independent supervisory body for the prosecutionto investigateandexamine its conductandform ofdecision-making."