Menachem Begin's saying, "There are judges in Jerusalem," which was said in the context of settlement in Judea and Samaria, can be borrowed from the case of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's conviction for accepting a bribe and Judge David Rosen's firm determination that "Olmert lied in court." So there you have it, "there is a judge in Tel Aviv.".<\/p>\r\n
The conviction is an important milestone in the history of Israeli democracy. On the one hand, it is a bitter and sad day: after the president and senior ministers were charged with criminal offenses, now comes the man who held the most senior position in Israel and he may find himself in prison alongside the one who was the number one citizen - Moshe Katsav.<\/p>\r\n
On the other hand, this is a day that inspires hope, mainly in two aspects: the "Buzgalo test," established at the time by Attorney General Aharon Barak, is re-enforced when a senior figure is treated the same as an ordinary person. This is called equality before the law; and the rule that no one in Israel is above the law, no matter what position they hold, is being applied again, and this is when there is evidence of this. In my opinion, this even inspires pride.<\/p>\r\n
The court ruled in a completely clear manner without a shadow of a doubt. Olmert's statement - "There were no envelopes" - becomes a groundless statement. For we are not talking about a few shekels, but about half a million shekels. Moreover, Olmert's associates have repeatedly claimed that he was removed from power in an undemocratic manner, since he did not stand the test of the people.<\/p>\r\n
The late Amnon Dankner went so far as to suggest that former State Attorney Moshe Lador commit suicide over Olmert's indictment in another context. Although the mills of justice were grinding slowly, also due to Olmert's evasions, after yesterday's verdict, even this statement of theirs is unfounded.<\/p>\r\n
The verdict proves that the fight was not in vain. He may have been vindicated, but this was a principled fight over ethical norms that set new standards for those engaged in public service and their use of the resources of those who sent them.<\/p>\r\n
However, it is worth saying with one hand on one's heart: Contrary to the public's mistaken impression that "all politicians are corrupt," most public servants are not like Olmert. Far from it. Moreover, the decision illustrates the need for free and impartial media, consisting of channels and newspapers that represent a variety of schools of thought and opinions. It also emphasizes the need for free review systems, and at the same time the need for reviewers to know that the public expects them to be impartial and have a matter-of-fact approach.<\/p>\r\n
\u2022 The writer is the Director General of the Jerusalem Institute for Justice, a lecturer at the Israeli Center for Political Training, and a columnist for Israel Hayom.'<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Olmert's statement - "There were no envelopes" - becomes a false statement \u2022 The verdict proves that the struggle was not in vain. This was a principled struggle over ethical norms that set new standards for those engaged in public service.","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[138],"tags":[552,32345,619,360,295],"class_list":["post-2675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-138","tag-552","tag-32345","tag-619","tag-360","tag-295"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n