MK Dr. Michael Ben Ari (National Union) asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz Tuesday why he seems to consistently refrain from launching investigations against Defense Minister Ehud Barak despite reports of wrongdoing by him. Specifically, Ben Ari wanted to know whether Mazuz intends to take any steps against Barak following reports that he employed an illegal Filipino immigrant at his private home.
"In cases such as these the authorities take actions and sanctions,” Ben Ari wrote, “but in this case I have not heard of any inquiry by the Attorney General to this moment. I therefore am turning to you to in order to find out whether Mr. Barak is immune from inquiries and sanctions.”
"Scarcely a week goes by without this or another scandal being associated to Minister Barak's name, but to my surprise, instead of the Attorney General's bureau issuing clear statement that laws are laws and no one is exempt from them, whatever his status, Mr. Barak continues to strut about as if he were an etrog under wraps.”
In Jewish tradition, an etrog is a citron fruit which is kept wrapped and stored in a special box throughout the Sukkot holiday. The term is also used by the Israeli right wing to denote a politician who enjoys special treatment from the media and law enforcement establishment, because he is carrying out policies that are to their liking. It was first used by a prominent television commentator who called on fellow journalists to keep then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon safe from criticism so that he could carry out the expulsion from Gaza in 2005.
The Movement for Quality of Government asked the State Comptroller to conduct an in-depth inquiry into Minister Barak's conduct with regard to the employment of the Filipina worker at his home. “If the foreign worker was indeed employed without the necessary approvals, this is a blunt violation of the law, and it is doubly serious when the person involved is a minister in the government of Israel,” the movement stated.