The Legal Forum for Eretz Yisrael is preparing to file a
petition against the Prime Minister in order to delay, halt,
thwart and/or prevent the implementation of the Disengagement
Plan.
Their decision followed on the heels of the publication of
Boomerang, a book by journalists Ofer Shalach and
Raviv Drucker that posits that Sharon decided to go forward
with the Disengagement Plan in order to spare himself from an
indictment that he had a hunch the State Prosecutor was about
to issue against him regarding the Greek Island Affair.
The High Court recently finished deliberating about several
petitions on the Disengagement Plan and the Evacuation-
Compensation Law that were laid on its doorstep. All of the
petitions were rejected but regarding one of them the High
Court determined, "In cases where corruption is proven the
High Court will intervene in national issues such as the
Disengagement Plan." The Legal Forum for Eretz Yisrael, a
patently right-wing organization as the name reveals, is
hinging its hopes on that sentence.
The Forum's legal counsel, Attorney Yossi Fuchs, sent a long,
detailed letter to the Attorney General demanding a criminal
investigation of the Prime Minister on suspicions of
corruption based on the information brought to light in the
book.
In the letter Fuchs claims that the book provides the only
reasonable explanation heard so far to account for Sharon's
180-degree shift from the stance he presented until his
election to office, when Sharon held that Netzarim should be
viewed the same as Tel Aviv and staunchly opposed the idea of
his opponent, Amram Mitzna, for a unilateral withdrawal from
the Gaza Strip.
Of course nobody disputes the Forum's right to petition the
High Court as it sees fit or to write a letter to the
Attorney General demanding that he order an investigation
against Sharon. In a democratic country like Israel every
citizen or organization from Metula to Eilat has the same
right. However the chances the High Court will do something
with this petition are about the same as the chances Mazuz
will order a criminal investigation following the letter from
Mr. Fuchs. After having cleared Sharon in the Greek Island
case would Mazuz then open an investigation in this case
based on arguments that don't hold water?
The High Court will probably boot the appellants and the
appeal right out the door since the entire petition is backed
by a single piece of evidence: a book written by two
journalists who themselves admit they lack a "smoking gun."
No solid evidence, no admission, no key witness—just
circumstantial evidence, rumors and inferences based on the
chronology of events. No High Court judge would accept a case
based solely on a book aimed at increasing sales.
Especially since thrown into the jumble of claims the
distinguished attorney included the ludicrous contention the
Prime Minister bought the support of United Torah Jewry for
several hundred million shekels. What could this claim
possibly have to do with the court case? This is an entirely
political matter. And why did Fuchs fail to mention Sharon's
purchase of Shinui support for a sum of NIS 700
million— double what UTJ received? Why does he overlook
the funding the NRP received in exchange for remaining in the
government until the party's resignation? And why does he
completely ignore numerous political moves Sharon made to
preserve his majority, as does every prime minister who
encounters coalition problems?
The inclusion of this claim raises suspicions that the
appellants and their hired counsel realize perfectly well
that neither the petition nor the letter will be taken
seriously. All they want is to gain a few more lines in the
newspaper and another few minutes of exposure on the radio
and the evening news. For as everyone knows, to achieve this,
wheeling out "chareidi extortion" is always sound advice and
the best way to get good ratings.
In fact they even got some exposure here.
