Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has closed the cases against former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Labor MK Yitzchak Herzog in the infamous "election associations scandals," due to lack of evidence. He also cleared Meretz MK Zahava Gal'on of guilt regarding alleged financial irregularities when she headed the International Center for Middle East Peace. Rubenstein plans to resign his position several months from now, but said he would not do so before "clearing his desk" of several important cases. It is a foregone conclusion that his next position is a seat on the Supreme Court, where he will be joined by his colleague, State Prosecutor Edna Arbel.
Atty. Aharon Papo, speaking with Arutz-7's Amatzia Eitan this morning, commented, "It appears that Rubenstein and Arbel have concluded that bringing charges on what appear to be political cases is like 'treading on mud.' ... If this is in fact their trend, then it should work in both directions, and I therefore think that charges will similarly not be brought against Prime Minister Sharon and his sons in the cases at hand, which also involve allegations of monies being misdirected to electoral campaigns..."
It will be recalled that State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg, when he first investigated the Barak campaign-funding case four years ago, called the incident a "great blow to the rule of law" and a "trampl[ing of] the rule of law." At issue were 17 associations that helped the 1999 Prime Ministerial campaign of then-MK Ehud Barak. The associations, which had been established for philanthropic and social purposes, deviated from these goals by working for Barak's election, spending some 5.2 million shekels in the process. The two key figures in the funding and operation of the fictitious associations were Atty. Yitzchak Herzog, now a Labor MK, and Barak's campaign advisor Tal Zilberstein. The police recommended that charges be brought against them and others, though the Tel Aviv Prosecution said the charges should be dropped for lack of evidence.
Atty. Papo said today, "Even though there are laws [that were apparently violated], the law also gives the Attorney-General the almost exclusive right to determine when to indict someone and when not. Only in very extreme cases does the Supreme Court intervene in his judgment. Someone could, if he wants, petition the Supreme Court and say that Rubenstein's decision in this case was not reasonable, and that there *is* sufficient evidence against Barak and Herzog, etc."
It should be noted that Barak's campaign director Tal Zilberstein, as well as the treasurer of one of the associations, will be indicted. "This is something I can't understand," Papo said. "If you're closing files, why not close all of them? This is another manifestation of what has become known as the Shin Gimmel [the sentry] syndrome, where the people on top are cleared of responsibility, and the guilt is rolled down to the ones below. It could be in the end that they [Zilberstein and the treasurer] will act like [suspected Likud MK] Naomi Blumental's driver, who began to talk against his former boss..."
The police have determined that they have evidence against Blumental linking her with a form of bribery of Likud Central Committee members in order to win their support in the internal party elections. Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has not yet decided whether to indict her. MK Yuri Stern (National Union) said today that in light of Rubenstein's decisions regarding Barak, Herzog and Gal'on, he will object to the removal of Blumental's parliamentary immunity in case it comes to a vote. "Removing her immunity means cooperation with the discriminatory policy of the toothless judicial system," Stern said.
Knesset Law Committee Chairman MK Michael Eitan of the Likud, who has led the campaign to prosecute the guilty parties in the Barak campaign scandal, responded very sharply to Rubenstein's decision: "The State Prosecution and the Attorney-General have decided to accept political law-breaking instead of fighting against it. This is a slap in the face of the rule of law in Israel, that will become a mortal blow after Arbel and Rubenstein receive their prize and become Supreme Court judges."
Several months ago, MK Eitan spoke even more sharply. He told Arutz-7 at the time that whoever decides to drop the charges "is a criminal... It is a total lie to say that there is no evidence to convict people in this case. The police recommended that charges be brought against more than ten people; if not even one of them is indicted, yet MK Blumental is indicted - I say that whoever does this is striking a mortal blow at the rule of law in Israel."