The stain on the police

Tuesday, September 2, 2003

More bloodylands painting by Silvia Rosenberg 40x50 canvas

The Or Commission recommended that Moshe Waldman, a sub-district police chief in Galilee with more than 1,000 police under his command, be fired for his role in the October 2000 riots but yesterday Waldman was vowing to fight that in the courts. His boss, Inspector General Shlomo Aharonishki, was saying that he put together a team to examine the entire Or report and only when they finished would he decide what to do - and meanwhile he could only back up his officers.

Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein, never one to clash with anyone if he can avoid it, is so far silent but State Attorney Edna Arbel, after meeting with the Justice Ministry's Police Investigations Unit, set in motion a probe of at least 10 cases of suspected illegal shootings by police that were specified by the Or Commission as requiring investigations that are likely to lead to criminal prosecution.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, saying he agreed the inquiries should take place, pointed out that the events took place three years ago and at the time, the families of the victims did not want to cooperate with police, so it might be difficult to come up with conclusive results.

Coincidentally, an Israeli Arab, wounded 13 years ago during Temple Mount riots, won a court ruling granting him NIS 2 million in compensation from the state, which refused to settle out of court with the man for damages after he was shot by police.

In short, public attention to the report will fade quickly, as other issues arise, and the current government at least will probably not take many steps to reduce the bureaucratic discrimination and neglect that the commission blamed as one of the reasons for the Arab riots of October 2000, but for years to come, the police will be the subject of inquiries and court cases.

Another inquiry underway is the Sharon case, and yesterday, MK Omri Sharon spent nearly ten hours in a police interrogation room. According to police leaks, as one newspaper report said, the burly son of the prime minister used the ten hours 'to move his lips, but not say anything.'

On all the substantive questions, he told the investigators they should ask his brother Gilad. According to Israel Radio, police now await the September 9 Tel Aviv District court hearing on whether Gilad Sharon has to hand over banking documents relating to allegedly illegal loans taken from overseas to pay back illegal foreign campaign donations.

The police believe the loans came from the same people who made the illegal donations in the first place, and are now referring to he entire case as one of bribery. After that hearing, the police will have no choice but to question Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Meanwhile, they police are also reworking a request to the Viennese authorities to take depositions in Austria from the bank about who owns the accounts from which the money flowed to the Sharon brothers.

On the other front, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz reiterated his long-held belief that Israel 'made a mistake' by not expelling Yasser Arafat two years ago, calling Arafat an 'obstacle' to Palestinian Prime Minster Mahmoud Abbas, who was boycotting a session of PLO and Fatah bodies meeting in Ramallah in an effort to end the crisis between Arafat and Abbas. Abbas is reportedly threatening to quit if he doesn't get his way. Mediators were shuttling between them.

Egypt meanwhile is working -- as it did in the past -- on a new cease-fire plan. According to Israel Radio, Egyptian officials say Abbas's representatives in Cairo have agreed to a proposed new cease-fire, but Cairo still awaits a response from Hamas, which is threatening assassinations of Israeli political leaders in retaliation for Israel's assassinations of Hamas officials. The Shin Bet says the press this morning, has stepped up security around several key ministers and added security to some who made do without bodyguards until now. And in Gaza, an 11-year-old girl wounded in one of the air force's strikes last week, died of her wounds.

On the diplomatic front, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath was calling for an international presence in territories, while in Morocco, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom was to meet with King Mohammed VI, hoping to strike a deal to renormalize relations after Morocco followed Jordan and Egypt's lead and withdrew its diplomatic presence from Israel after the outbreak of the intifada three years ago. Shalom told Israel Raduiop this morning that he expects that the tens of thousands of Israeli tourists who made Morocco a destination over the past decade 'will soon be able to resume their visits.' Morocco is eager to see that tourism resume, just as Israel is eager to breach the wall of isolation it feels in those parts of the Arab world where it has been accepted.

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