Responding to criticism of his order to cut off the broadcast of Prime Minister Sharon's press conference last Thursday night, Elections Commission head Judge Mishael Cheshin said that he owes an explanation to "no one." Cheshin fought off heated criticism of his unprecedented order to cut off the Prime Minister mid-sentence in a televised broadcast, calling the attacks against him, "words of insolence."
"I am obligated to give explanations only to my conscience and to G-d, and to nobody else on the face of the earth," said Cheshin, who also serves as a justice on the Supreme Court. "My conscience is pure and clean… I stand here as accuser and not as the accused… I'm not ready to be crucified."
Sharon called the press conference in order to answer charges that he and his sons had violated the law by taking a $1.5 million loan from Cyril Kern, a long-time family friend from Britain who has a residence in South Africa.
According to Cheshin, Sharon's press conference constituted "electoral propaganda" which Israeli law prohibits broadcasting two months before the date of the election. "I turned on the TV set in my office, something I do on rare occasions, and it slowly dawned on me that this wasn't a press conference, but severe, hard-hitting electoral propaganda from the mouth of the Prime Minister," said Cheshin.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud) brought before the Elections Commission a list of instances in which senior Labor officials accused Sharon and the Likud of corruption, dishonesty, and fraud in television and radio interviews. According to Eitan, these instances, as well as others in which Labor candidate Amram Mizna himself was interviewed, also constitute election propaganda. Eitan condended that Cheshin acted unfairly by not preventing the broadcast of these interviews.
Eitan also contended that a broadcast scheduled for tonight on Channel 2, called "Fact", in which Labor Party candidate Amram Mitzna is shown touring the Jewish community of Elei Sinai in Gaza, constitutes election propaganda. This claim was rebuffed by Judge Cheshin, who determined that the program is a "newsworthy" item, as opposed to Sharon's press conference.
Judge Cheshin also refused to honor Eitan's request that the judge monitor and review the "Fact" program, as well as other news oriented shows. Cheshin responded in writing, saying, "MK Eitan requested that I act indiscriminately. He asked that I appoint two people to monitor all radio broadcasts and report back to me regarding whether equality has been preserved. MK Eitan's request was unacceptable to me."
On the other hand, Cheshin denied Labor MK Effie Oshaya's request to grant more broadcast time to the Labor party as "compensation" for the 12 minutes of Sharon's press conference that were broadcast.
After hearing his requests denied by Judge Cheshin, MK Eitan responded, "The big difficulty with Cheshin's words is that he actually saw the Prime Minister's broadcast, while regarding other broadcasts, he just waits for us to file a complaint with the Commission. Nobody wants to crucify Cheshin, but he's obligated to present his reasoning to the public, and if he puts himself above all explanation, this is unacceptable. The situation, unfortunately, has just been left as it was."
"I am obligated to give explanations only to my conscience and to G-d, and to nobody else on the face of the earth," said Cheshin, who also serves as a justice on the Supreme Court. "My conscience is pure and clean… I stand here as accuser and not as the accused… I'm not ready to be crucified."
Sharon called the press conference in order to answer charges that he and his sons had violated the law by taking a $1.5 million loan from Cyril Kern, a long-time family friend from Britain who has a residence in South Africa.
According to Cheshin, Sharon's press conference constituted "electoral propaganda" which Israeli law prohibits broadcasting two months before the date of the election. "I turned on the TV set in my office, something I do on rare occasions, and it slowly dawned on me that this wasn't a press conference, but severe, hard-hitting electoral propaganda from the mouth of the Prime Minister," said Cheshin.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud) brought before the Elections Commission a list of instances in which senior Labor officials accused Sharon and the Likud of corruption, dishonesty, and fraud in television and radio interviews. According to Eitan, these instances, as well as others in which Labor candidate Amram Mizna himself was interviewed, also constitute election propaganda. Eitan condended that Cheshin acted unfairly by not preventing the broadcast of these interviews.
Eitan also contended that a broadcast scheduled for tonight on Channel 2, called "Fact", in which Labor Party candidate Amram Mitzna is shown touring the Jewish community of Elei Sinai in Gaza, constitutes election propaganda. This claim was rebuffed by Judge Cheshin, who determined that the program is a "newsworthy" item, as opposed to Sharon's press conference.
Judge Cheshin also refused to honor Eitan's request that the judge monitor and review the "Fact" program, as well as other news oriented shows. Cheshin responded in writing, saying, "MK Eitan requested that I act indiscriminately. He asked that I appoint two people to monitor all radio broadcasts and report back to me regarding whether equality has been preserved. MK Eitan's request was unacceptable to me."
On the other hand, Cheshin denied Labor MK Effie Oshaya's request to grant more broadcast time to the Labor party as "compensation" for the 12 minutes of Sharon's press conference that were broadcast.
After hearing his requests denied by Judge Cheshin, MK Eitan responded, "The big difficulty with Cheshin's words is that he actually saw the Prime Minister's broadcast, while regarding other broadcasts, he just waits for us to file a complaint with the Commission. Nobody wants to crucify Cheshin, but he's obligated to present his reasoning to the public, and if he puts himself above all explanation, this is unacceptable. The situation, unfortunately, has just been left as it was."