Tel Aviv District Court Judge David Rozen's
verdict can, and must, be a Herculean-style precursor to cleaning out
the stables, all of them. To setting new standards.
Former Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert in court on Monday
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Photo credit: Tomer Appelbaum  |
The mythological Greek hero Hercules was
assigned 12 tasks; the fifth was cleaning the Augean stables. These were
the filthy stables of Augeas, king of Elis. The stables were so defiled
that cleaning them was considered beyond the power of mortals. But
Hercules, a demigod, was determined to find a solution. He diverted two
rivers so their water would sweep away the filth and clean the stables
in a single night.
A similar task was set before Judge David
Rozen. Throughout the trial he presided over, the judge faced mounting
evidence of what he described in his verdict as "corrupt systems of
government that had rotted away over the years… dirty money was
transferred [illegally] to elected and public officials with the
intention that Olmert would help promote their interests."
And like that same Hercules, Rozen aimed a
stream of refreshing water at the dirt and washed it away, cleaned the
mud, tore off the masks, and exposed the true face of the corruption.
And the face of the most corrupt of all, Ehud Olmert, the first Israeli
prime minister to be convicted of taking bribes.
Have we been swept up in fairy tales? Not
really. If Olmert's defense strategy attempted, as the judge wrote in
his verdict, to convince us that wealthy people had popped up out of
nowhere to wield their influence and were keeping mum, and money had
been pulled out of a "magical treasure," if Olmert is pulling out fairy
tales to escape the long arm of the law, then it is certainly possible
to see what happened yesterday as the stuff these tales are made of. To
be more precise: the cornerstone for rule of law has been laid.
When the first issue of Israel Hayom came out
seven years ago, we made a commitment to support the rule of law. We
have supported it ever since. Rule of law in the broadest sense, under
the assumption that there is good and there is bad. And that good is
preferable. That beyond quotidian laws made by people, those that are
passed today and redacted tomorrow, that beyond the collection of
clauses, there is primal law, a basic rule, the word "commandment" in
its broadest context: that there is justice and injustice, natural law
that applies to each and every person.
We did not invent it. The human aspiration for
justice, for order, for clear standards. Mordechai Gilat and Dan
Margalit were on the front line. But we have been fighting this battle
for seven years, almost on our own. Because look at what happened here:
"Corrupt systems of government that had rotted over the years," as Rozen
says. And the corrupt media can be added to this.
Noni Mozes' evil empire became a refuge for
the evil and the corrupt. Yedioth Ahronoth nurtured them, cushioned
them, protected them. It is enough to page through the archives that
hold old editions of that newspaper -- things speak for themselves. The
paper protected the late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, coddled him, and
enthusiastically led the Gaza Strip disengagement.
The paper behaved the same toward his
successor Olmert. Senior writers at Yedioth Ahronoth spread a protective
net over their man, to the extent that when the State Attorney's Office
announced the indictment against him (one of many), the item was buried
somewhere in the paper's back pages, as if it were a minor story.
When the Jerusalem District Court sent down a
divisive verdict, whose appeal is still pending before the Supreme
Court, that cleared Olmert of some of the charges but convicted him on
four counts of breach of trust, Yedioth celebrated the acquittal, as if
Alfred Dreyfus had walked out of the courtroom rather than Olmert. Since
then and until a few days ago, Yedioth Ahronoth has continued to defend
him.
Is Yedioth actually Pravda? Yes, the Pravda of
the evil, for the evil. Because this is just part of the bigger
picture. Look at who came in there and comes in now, under the
protective wing of Mozes -- the same politicians, the same tycoons, the
same expensive lawyers, the same former military officials who became
politicians overnight and some who are suspected of becoming politicians
while they still served. Because they aren't just busy with the Olmert
scandal over there, but with the Ashkenazi scandal that is still being
investigated; and the Danny Dankner and Nochi Dankner scandals; and
stirring up and interfering in every area of our lives -- and their
unceasing war against rule of law, against the Supreme Court, against
the State Attorney, and against the police.
And with their unending war against current
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Because he isn't one of theirs. What
can you do -- it was actually during his term that the tycoons took
tough hits, and the Centralization Law passed, and the tax on natural
gas profits was increased, and the Dankner cousins got into trouble and
fell from greatness. What can you do -- the Noni rule as a national
media monopoly, with Olmert and people like him as its pawns, has
collapsed.
While Israel Hayom supports the rule of law,
Yedioth Ahronoth does not stop attacking it (see, among others, the
article by former Justice Minister Prof. Daniel Friedman.) Because while
Israel Hayom sees the police as a crucial service with supreme value to
life in Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth attacks them, and their leader,
furiously. Because while Israel Hayom supports the security
establishment and the Israel Defense Forces, Yedioth Ahronoth does not
hesitate to compare our military's raid on a missile ship from Iran to
an "act of piracy."
Unfortunately, Yedioth Ahronoth was not
working for the bad side alone. Mozes has a long reach and emissaries
and representatives in other media outlets. Under the smoke screen of
the "peace process," many have found justification for joining Mozes'
campaigns. After all, the prophets of peace must be coddled, even if
they are corrupt to their core. The media entities that got swept up
after Yedioth Ahronoth would do well to check themselves. One
broadcaster admitted halfheartedly yesterday that the court ruling in
the Olmert trial was actually a day of atonement for the media.
At Yedioth Ahronoth, they will do anything to
reinvest Mozes with power over the nation, and there are those who will
help them. But yesterday, they hit a big snag: Olmert, who was already
supposedly planning a major comeback, was convicted. Of bribery. He has a
right to appeal, of course. But in the meantime, there is a new
investigation against him for alleged obstruction of justice, and a
state witness named Shula Zaken, and a tape.
This is not the end of the war, but it might
be the end of the beginning. One chapter is closed, but Yedioth Ahronoth
is still pulling politicians' strings. It is time the latter came to
their senses and shook off the shame. Yes, Mozes organized a bill
against us; it should be trashed before it is officially presented.
Rozen's verdict can, and must, be a Herculean-style
precursor to cleaning out the stables, all of them. To setting new
standards. To proving to the bad people what we at Israel Hayom believe:
that in the end, the good win. And the bad go to prison.
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