Shinui's image as a result of the Paritzky scandal will never
be the same. Even within the party some sought to take
advantage of the dismissal to bring up other problems
plaguing the party, but they were hushed up in the best
Bolshevik tradition. When the Shinui Council convened to
approve the Party Secretary's recommendation "to condemn
Paritzky's conduct and call on Paritzky to resign from the
Knesset and his Shinui Party posts," a stormy debate
ensued.
Complaints were voiced on the way ranking party officials
treated Yosef Paritzky after the tape-recorded conversations
he had with a private investigator became public. "When the
affair was blasted open just the tip of the iceberg was
exposed, so think about the size of the entire iceberg," said
one speaker. "Eighty to ninety percent of internal elections
in the party are deals and eliminations," claimed another
party member. "Other people in the party committed
inappropriate acts too," added a third. One reporter there
says these voices were silenced by loud shouts from several
of the participants, including Knesset members.
Various commentators predict it will be hard for Shinui to
shed its new label. "Paritzky built and destroyed," writes
Ha'aretz' Shachar Ilan, who normally supports Shinui's
struggles "for the sake of character purification and proper
administration," particularly when they are waged against the
chareidi sector.
He notes one instance of hypocrisy. "When we have a wound
with pus we clean it out with a knife," Shinui Chairman Yosef
Lapid declared without reticence. Yet Shinui passed up
another opportunity to fire an attack against Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's conduct in the Greek Isle and Cyril Kern
Affairs. Eventually many Shinui figures will rise as a result
of Paritzky's fall, but what would they gain from Sharon's
fall?
Ilan also writes, Shinui figures will find it very difficult
to create an impression that a distinction should be made
between Paritzky and the war cry against corruption the party
sounded at his behest. "Shinui rushed to lament how Paritzky
sabotaged the party's image as a combatant against
corruption. In practice, during the previous term Shinui had
only one person in the party who fought against corruption
and improprieties in a consistent and resolute manner and
built this image. This was Yosef Paritzky. Paritzky built an
image. Paritzky destroyed it . . . And it is impossible to
overlook the great enthusiasm with which Shinui Party members
descended on Paritzky's political carcass while the blood was
still warm."
Ha'aretz also ran an article under the headline,
"Instead of Cleaning Out the Stables, Shinui Set Up a Stable
of its Own." During the course of the article the writer
reveals another interesting element: Why was the Non-
Government Organizations (NGO) Registrar fired? Did his
decision to investigate impropriety in an NGO associated with
Shinui and Poraz cost him his job?
The article asks several questions: What is the connection
between the NGO Registrar and the Paritzky Affair? Did
Interior Minister Avraham Poraz dismiss the NGO registrar,
Attorney Amiram Bogat, because he conducted an investigation
against two NGOs with which Poraz is associated--the same
NGOs that were mentioned in the tape-recorded conversation
between Paritzky and investigator Yaakov Eshel that led to
Paritzky's downfall? Why was the contract not renewed with
the independent NGO Registry accountant who wrote the report
against the Liberal Institute, an organization Poraz took an
active role in running and which had administrative
irregularities?
Poraz' decision to fire Bogat was considered an unusual move.
Even Ehud Barak did not fire Bogat during the period when NGO
Registry investigators were sent to investigate his brother-
in-law, Attorney Doron Cohen, in what was known as the Barak
NGOs. But what Barak didn't dare to do, Poraz did
unperturbed. Three weeks ago, on the same day Paritzky was
publicly fired, another interesting development took place:
Attorney Yaron Keidar, the former legal advisor for Meretz
who Poraz knew during the period Shinui was allied with
Meretz, was selected NGO Registrar.
Ha'aretz reports that Keidar was chosen unanimously by
a special selection committee Poraz pushed to set up. Headed
by Justice Ministry Director-General Aharon Abramovitz,
committee members included Interior Ministry Director-General
Gidon Lev-Ari, Joint Distribution Committee Director-General
Arnon Mantevar, Professor Shalev and Deputy Civil Service
Commissioner Yaakov Berger. A "royal" committee indeed, only
the affiliation of the members should not go unmentioned.
Abramovitz is the director-general of Yosef Lapid's ministry,
Lev-Ari is the director-general of Poraz' ministry and
Mantevar is considered one of Poraz' close associates.
For several months, claim NGO Registry employees, it was
clear Keidar was the prime candidate for the job. Poraz
denied involvement in Keidar's appointment although he admits
he knew Keidar, like the other candidates, and "the other
candidates were well below his level."
The new appointment was preceded by the dismissal of Amiram
Bogat, who was the victim of an attack by political figures,
primarily due to the investigation of "NGOs associated with
the left," as one ranking Interior Ministry official puts it.
Bogat, a Likud appointee, acted inequitably, claim his
detractors, applying one set of standards to NGOs associated
with the left and another with those associated with the
right, citing the investigation of Barak's NGOs as an
example.
Ha'aretz, however, pointed to Poraz' interests in the
matter. Even now that it is clear Yossi Maiman, owner of
Merhav and one of the owners of Arutz 10, initiated and
financed the investigations against Paritzky, the affair
continues to cause political repercussions, in this case
within the realm of internal politics at Shinui.
The Liberal Institute - Research and Education is one of the
NGOs Paritzky told Eshel on the tapes that he heard has
irregularities, asking him to look carefully into the matter
and check what was happening in the organization, telling
Eshel about his trips to Germany to raise money for the
organization. A look at the NGO Registrar's report on the
Liberal Institute leaves one with the impression that the
surprise Paritzky expressed in his conversations with Eshel
about the corruption were not imaginary, writes
Ha'aretz.
The Liberal Institute was founded in 1985 "to promote liberal
values in Israel, to encourage and carry out publications on
matters of economics, taxation, society and legal affairs."
Former minister Yitzchok Berman and current Interior Minister
Avraham Poraz were among its founders. The organization, says
Director Chanita Ashtai, organizes seminars designed "to
enrich the participants in the area of economic thinking."
The principal contributor is the Friedrich Nauman Foundation,
a fund within the German Liberal Party. But the Liberal
Institute's attorney told Orly Osher, the accountant who
examined the organization for the NGO Registry, "The
Institute operates under [Shinui] party patronage." The
Liberal Institute's director, however, wrote Osher a letter
denying the claim.
According to the NGO Registry report, the organization has
ties to Shinui. Liberal Institute Chairwoman Daliya Zomer and
board members, including Moshe Klinger and Moshe Bakar, are
Shinui party members. Bakar also serves as a member of the
Shinui secretariat. Sharona Sholev, a member of the Liberal
Institute's control committee, is also a member of the Shinui
Council, whose active members include Poraz and Ilan Shalgi.
The report also says, "Some of the organization's meetings
were held at the Shinui offices in Tel Aviv."
According to the Political Party Funding Law, activities by
external organizations to provide assistance through election
propaganda for a party or any form of organizational ties to
the party are considered prohibited contributions.
The financial reports the organization submitted to the NGO
Registrar contained deficiencies. In contradiction to
declarations that the organization does not employ any paid
employees, the director of the organization really received
over NIS 300,000 ($65,000) during the years 2000-01 as a
"self-employed" worker. In violation of Paragraph 33 of the
5740-1980 NGO Law, Ashtai also serves not only as a paid
director but also as a member of the board. Ashtai was forced
to resign from the board following the report, but she is
still an authorized signatory.
The report also shows that from the day the organization was
first registered in 1987, for over a decade, its heads failed
to meet legal filing requirements until the NGO was submitted
for erasure proceedings in 1998. At that point Poraz
intervened on the Liberal Institute's behalf. The erasure
proceedings were frozen, but still the NGO Registrar was not
provided with all of the necessary documents and reports,
including the amount of money paid to lecturers at seminars
Ashtai reported. At the conclusion of his investigation the
Registrar wrote, "The organization has organizational ties to
Shinui," and in light of the contents of the seminars the
Liberal Institute organizes, the Registrar recommended
transferring the report and its findings to the State
Comptroller and until then denying it a Proper Administration
Certificate.
All of the leads support the theory Poraz fired Bogat because
he cracked down on the Liberal Institute, which the Interior
Minister of course denies. Poraz claims his rival Paritzky
concocted this scheme and that Bogat's dismissal at the end
of 2003 had no connection to the Liberal Institute audit. "I
received backing from Attorney General Mani Mazuz for Bogat's
replacement because he, too, was not satisfied with his
performance," said Poraz. "I had good reasons to dismiss
him."
Meanwhile, he blames his former colleague for urging the
investigation. "Paritzky was the one who initiated the
inquiry into the organization. He was the person who went to
the NGO Registrar, drew their attention and requested the
organization be investigated. Paritzky was out to get me. I
have information from the NGO Registrar to prove it. Paritzky
also went to Yaakov Eshel and requested that he, too,
investigate the matter."
However, Bogat's associates at the Registry say the
investigation of the Liberal Institute began four months
before the last elections. Bogat was not contacted by
Paritzky or any of his assistants and the accuracy--not the
source--of the information is important, they say. In fact,
they say Mazuz was actually serving as Assistant Attorney
General at the time while the post of Attorney General was
occupied by Eliakim Rubinstein, who did not support Bogat's
dismissal. Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander wrote
an opinion statement forbidding Poraz from firing Bogat but
Bogat, realizing he could not continue to work for Poraz,
decided not to present it, they say.
Poraz says Meretz members also sit on the Liberal Institute
executive board. "Our organization was never purely Shinui,"
he maintains, "but Meretz and various other organizations as
well, and it held seminars all year long." Even after reading
Osher's audit report he held "everything's in order at the
organization." The State Comptroller, Poraz is convinced,
also reached this conclusion "because he did not ask me for
any explanation over the course of seven months."
On the subject of the Liberal Institute's improper financial
management, Poraz says, "We had a bad bookkeeper who did not
prepare the reports on time and she was fired." On the
organizational connection between the Liberal Institute and
Shinui he says, "While it's true some of the organization's
meetings were held in Shinui offices, this was done to save
money."
Meanwhile Yehoshua Roth, the State Comptroller's senior
assistant, says the Liberal Institute case is still under
review. "At a meeting of the Committee for Matters of State
Control, on December 16, 2003, the Comptroller announced that
if the Party Funding Law applies in some way he would handle
the matter of the Liberal Institute since the Comptroller is
responsible for enforcing the Party Funding Law. The
Comptroller said he would consider the matter only from the
angle of the Party Funding Law and this angle is still under
examination.
All of the above was taken from the report in
Ha'aretz, which is hardly suspected of hostility
toward Shinui. Apparently, even on the left end of the
political spectrum they have begun to smell the acrid odor
wafting from the direction of Shinui and realize it will be
hard to ignore it for long.
