(Government Press Office)
Two papers comment on various aspects of the controversy over the police recommendation that Attorney General Meni Mazuz decide to indict Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on various corruption-related offenses:
Yisrael Hayom speculates that Attorney General Mazuz will eventually decide to indict Prime Minister Olmert on most of the charges in the police recommendation. The editors aver that "It must be noted that not many investigations were accompanied so closely…by the senior establishment figures – the State Prosecutor and the Attorney General himself."
Yediot Aharonot believes that "Mazuz is seen as a weak Attorney General in light of his decisions regarding Sharon and Katsav", and asks, "Will he attempt to change his image by adopting the severe indictment that the police have recommended against Olmert?" The editors acknowledge that this would be popular but believe the bribery charge, in particular, to be, "shaky", and suggest that its dismissal could pave the way to some sort of plea bargain.
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Ma'ariv faults US policy in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The editors assert that it was a mistake to "continue to strengthen anti-democratic Arab regimes" and to attempt to instill democratic and liberal ideas by force. The paper also criticizes moderate Islamists for not standing up to the radicals.
Haaretz criticizes the audacity of Minister of Justice Daniel Friedmann's false claim that the police have not deposed an incumbent prime minister. The editor feels that this false accusation is reason enough to terminate his tenure together with that of the prime minister. "It's not the justice minister's role to defend the prime minister from those enforcing the law. His job is to defend the rule of law and those state emissaries who enforce it vis-a-vis a leadership part of which is suspected of having committed crimes and part of which has already been convicted".
The Jerusalem Post discusses recent attacks on Jewish youths in Paris, and states that at a time like this, we in Israel should send a message to our Jewish brethren in France that they are not alone; Israel was founded not only as a haven from anti-Semitism, but as a homeland where Jewish life can be lived to its fullest
[Baruch Leshem, Yoav Frumer and Moshe Mizrahi wrote today’s articles in Yediot Aharonot, Ma'ariv and Yisrael Hayom, respectively.]