Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has established a team to look into reports that Prime Minister Sharon intervened on behalf of long-time friends in a financial dispute between them and public officials.
The reports state that Sharon's friends, two brothers who own property south of Kfar Saba in Kfar Malal, informed him that it was being seized for use as a highway - but that their claims that the proposed compensation was too low were being ignored. The Prime Minister then called the Director-General of the Transportation Ministry on their behalf.
Mr. Sharon says, in his defense, that he did not get involved in the details and only asked that his friends be heard out. In any event, the brothers received $110,000 more in compensation than had originally been set. This payment has now been frozen, however.
The reports ticked off a debate on the extent of Sharon's wrongdoing in this affair. MK Roni Bar-On of the Likud, an attorney, said that it would have been "inhumane" of Sharon to have ignored the plight of his friends, "one of whom was even crying." He further said that it happens "every day" that a minister makes a phone call on behalf of someone.
Rabbi Michael Baris, head of the Mishpitei Aretz Kollel in Ofrah in which contemporary legal issues are studied from a Halakhic [Jewish legal] standpoint, was asked about this issue on Arutz-7 today. Haggai Segal asked him, "Is it acceptable for the Prime Minister to intervene in this way on behalf of his friends?"
Rabbi Baris responded,
"If we look at our traditional sources, we can see this incident in its proper light. First of all, we know that the King of Israel did in fact have a role in preventing oppression. For instance, Elisha the prophet suggested to a woman that if she were oppressed, she should turn to the king; and there was a case of a woman who passed by the walls of the city and complained to the king, and he was willing to help... This is not just 'protektzia' [officials doing favors], but the fulfillment of his traditional function of righting a wrong. But the problem here is that in this case, it was not something that was available to all; it was rather done via 'connections' and 'friends in high places.' In this realm of confiscating lands, which the king has a right to do, and of determining proper compensation, the king is acting as a court - and as such, there is absolutely no room for anything that smacks of favoritism..."
A-7: "The Prime Minister, then, should have simply said, 'I'm sorry, friends, I just can't help you'?"
Rabbi Baris: "There are many things that a Prime Minister, or a judge, or any public official, must be extra cautious about. It's not enough merely to be 'clean' in the eyes of G-d, but they must also be 'clean' in the eyes of the people... In addition to avoiding any favoritism, avoiding even the appearance of wrong-doing is also a Halakhic concept."
The reports state that Sharon's friends, two brothers who own property south of Kfar Saba in Kfar Malal, informed him that it was being seized for use as a highway - but that their claims that the proposed compensation was too low were being ignored. The Prime Minister then called the Director-General of the Transportation Ministry on their behalf.
Mr. Sharon says, in his defense, that he did not get involved in the details and only asked that his friends be heard out. In any event, the brothers received $110,000 more in compensation than had originally been set. This payment has now been frozen, however.
The reports ticked off a debate on the extent of Sharon's wrongdoing in this affair. MK Roni Bar-On of the Likud, an attorney, said that it would have been "inhumane" of Sharon to have ignored the plight of his friends, "one of whom was even crying." He further said that it happens "every day" that a minister makes a phone call on behalf of someone.
Rabbi Michael Baris, head of the Mishpitei Aretz Kollel in Ofrah in which contemporary legal issues are studied from a Halakhic [Jewish legal] standpoint, was asked about this issue on Arutz-7 today. Haggai Segal asked him, "Is it acceptable for the Prime Minister to intervene in this way on behalf of his friends?"
Rabbi Baris responded,
"If we look at our traditional sources, we can see this incident in its proper light. First of all, we know that the King of Israel did in fact have a role in preventing oppression. For instance, Elisha the prophet suggested to a woman that if she were oppressed, she should turn to the king; and there was a case of a woman who passed by the walls of the city and complained to the king, and he was willing to help... This is not just 'protektzia' [officials doing favors], but the fulfillment of his traditional function of righting a wrong. But the problem here is that in this case, it was not something that was available to all; it was rather done via 'connections' and 'friends in high places.' In this realm of confiscating lands, which the king has a right to do, and of determining proper compensation, the king is acting as a court - and as such, there is absolutely no room for anything that smacks of favoritism..."
A-7: "The Prime Minister, then, should have simply said, 'I'm sorry, friends, I just can't help you'?"
Rabbi Baris: "There are many things that a Prime Minister, or a judge, or any public official, must be extra cautious about. It's not enough merely to be 'clean' in the eyes of G-d, but they must also be 'clean' in the eyes of the people... In addition to avoiding any favoritism, avoiding even the appearance of wrong-doing is also a Halakhic concept."