"We must prevent the disaster of elections that the Labor party chairman is bringing upon us," Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon (Kadima) said this weekend. "We must not bring Bibi [Netanyahu] to power, there is no reason to put Bibi in charge," Ramon added. He was speaking on Channel 2's "Meet the Press," in an interview taped Friday and aired Saturday.
Ramon said he is currently doing all he can to make sure that Ehud Olmert remains as head of the government, and barring that, to have him replaced by "whomever Kadima selects to head it." Despite this, he estimated that elections would take place within the next year.
Ramon contended that Barak had already brought the Likud back into power before, when he resigned from his post as Prime Minister in 2000, and that he was about to do the same thing again now, by calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Olmert. In the interview, he asked repeatedly to give Olmert a chance to present his version of the relationship with businessman Morris (Moshe) Talansky and to let his lawyers cross-examine Talansky before passing judgment on him.
Barak has 'Chutzpah'
Ramon also attacked Barak for his statement that the Kadima primaries were delaying implementation of a "calm" in Gaza. Ramon called this statement "chutzpah" because Barak himself was the one who brought about the need for holding primaries.
Ramon also blasted Barak for wanting the calm: "The Prime Minister is holding discussions and arguments on the subject, and the person who is not consenting and agreeing to decide upon a military operation is the Defense Minister. He is the one who is acting resolutely and forcefully to achieve a 'calm' and recognize Hamas," Ramon said, adding that "a 'calm' is a euphemism for de facto recognition of a Hamas state, surrendering to a terror state."
"A 'calm' is a euphemism for surrendering to a terror state."
Ramon also used the term "Hamastan" – coined by opponents of the Disengagement to describe the dangerous consequences it would have – in referring to Gaza.
Prosecution 'Caught Red-Handed'
Ramon was also asked about the recommendation made to the government last week by Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann, that a committee of inquiry be appointed in the matter of the wiretaps made during the investigation of Ramon's sexual misconduct in 2006. Interviewers Dana Weiss and Ben Kaspit asked him why there was a need for the committee, and he explained that the prosecution had been "caught red-handed" trying to hide evidence acquired through the wiretaps from his defense attorneys.
The committee was established because of suspicions that during the investigation against Ramon, "directions were being sent from the Supreme Court to Brig.-Gen. Miri Golan."
The committee is to have authority to name suspects and recommend action against them.
The committee is to be headed by retired judge Dr. Dan Bein, and its two other members are to be Prof. Aharon Anker and Attorney Dan Avi-Yitzchak. The Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee recommended that such a committee be created. So did another committee of inquiry on the wiretap matter, which was headed by retired judge Vardimus Zeiler but lacked authority to recommend action against suspects.
Supreme Court Meddling?
According to Channel 2's political analyst Amnon Abramovich, the committee of inquiry was established because of suspicions that during the investigation against Ramon, "directions were being sent from Jerusalem to Bat Yam" – that is, from the Supreme Court to Brig.-Gen. Miri Golan, who headed the police's National Unit for Fraud Investigations at the time.
Golan, he noted, violated the Sabbath despite being a religious woman in order to meet the key witness against Ramon in a coffee shop. She also intimidated the witness into cooperating, Abramovich said. In order to be more effective than the previous panels which inquired into the matter, the committee would have to interrogate her and make her explain why she acted this way, he said.