A high-ranking government minister in only his second term in the Knesset, who recently announced his intentions to one day head the country's third-largest party and possibly become Prime Minister, Yosef Paritzky apparently saw his meteoric political career come to a crashing halt during the course of a few minutes of last night's Channel One television broadcast.
Paritzky was recorded talking with a private investigator in 2002 and conspiring to frame party colleague Avraham Poraz, who is now the Interior Minister. The investigator had been hired by workers of the Israel Electric Company during their struggle against Poraz's plans to promote legislation that would eliminate their right to free electricity. Poraz headed the Knesset Economics Committee at the time.
Excerpts from the recording heard last night: "That's the main thing: to [get] him... Quick, quick. Come, the elections are coming. Shinui is beginning a world war... There's a war between us, you know, worse than between Eli Yishai and Aryeh Deri... He's waging a political move against me; if I start with him, let's say, in the press... [We] have to kill him... You have to frame him..." The idea that was raised between the two was to "entrap" him via a proposal to promote legislation regarding the import of used cars.
Shinui Party leader Justice Minister Yosef Lapid asked Prime Minister Sharon last night to fire Paritzky, and Sharon said he would do so on Sunday. Lapid said this morning that he hopes Paritzky will resign from the Knesset and from Shinui, "and leave us to recover from this blow that he has landed upon us."
The 15 MKs of Shinui, including Paritzky, convened this morning for a special session. Thirteen of them (except for Roni Brizon, a personal friend of Paritzky, who asked to be excused from the vote) demand his resignation, but Paritzky said he would not do so at present. He did not apologize to his fellow MKs, but rather attacked them for being a kangaroo court and for performing a "lynch like in Ramallah." The session was closed to reporters.
Shinui received 15 Knesset seats in the elections a year and a half ago, rendering it Israel's third largest party. Its two main issues were its anti-religious/hareidi stance and its claim to political integrity. It frequently attacked the hareidi-Sephardic Shas party for the charges of corruption associated with some of its MKs.
Paritzky himself - aged 48, married with three children, an attorney by profession - arrived at the television studios last night and publicly apologized. "I apologize to my friend Avraham," he said. "Those were difficult days of primaries, of political struggles, I was a political rookie..."
Paritzky was recorded talking with a private investigator in 2002 and conspiring to frame party colleague Avraham Poraz, who is now the Interior Minister. The investigator had been hired by workers of the Israel Electric Company during their struggle against Poraz's plans to promote legislation that would eliminate their right to free electricity. Poraz headed the Knesset Economics Committee at the time.
Excerpts from the recording heard last night: "That's the main thing: to [get] him... Quick, quick. Come, the elections are coming. Shinui is beginning a world war... There's a war between us, you know, worse than between Eli Yishai and Aryeh Deri... He's waging a political move against me; if I start with him, let's say, in the press... [We] have to kill him... You have to frame him..." The idea that was raised between the two was to "entrap" him via a proposal to promote legislation regarding the import of used cars.
Shinui Party leader Justice Minister Yosef Lapid asked Prime Minister Sharon last night to fire Paritzky, and Sharon said he would do so on Sunday. Lapid said this morning that he hopes Paritzky will resign from the Knesset and from Shinui, "and leave us to recover from this blow that he has landed upon us."
The 15 MKs of Shinui, including Paritzky, convened this morning for a special session. Thirteen of them (except for Roni Brizon, a personal friend of Paritzky, who asked to be excused from the vote) demand his resignation, but Paritzky said he would not do so at present. He did not apologize to his fellow MKs, but rather attacked them for being a kangaroo court and for performing a "lynch like in Ramallah." The session was closed to reporters.
Shinui received 15 Knesset seats in the elections a year and a half ago, rendering it Israel's third largest party. Its two main issues were its anti-religious/hareidi stance and its claim to political integrity. It frequently attacked the hareidi-Sephardic Shas party for the charges of corruption associated with some of its MKs.
Paritzky himself - aged 48, married with three children, an attorney by profession - arrived at the television studios last night and publicly apologized. "I apologize to my friend Avraham," he said. "Those were difficult days of primaries, of political struggles, I was a political rookie..."