The long wait is over: Some 43 months after the media uncovered a forged document besmirching the defense minister and his preferred choice for chief of general staff (the Harpaz affair), the police have finally entered the fray. The gears are finally shifting in the police probe against former Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, his former bureau chief Erez Weiner, former Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu, and Lt. Col. (res.) Boaz Harpaz, a friend of Ashkenazi's. The investigation will also scrutinize former Chief Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit. While it is too early to say "all's well that ends well" -- because Harpaz and Weiner have allegedly obstructed justice by actively undermining the investigation, possibly by destroying evidence -- we can definitely say "better late than never." This saga revolves around a fake document that could have culminated with an intra-military coup. It could have had the military echelon assert its dominance over the Defense Ministry and over the civilian government to which it reports. It is about senior officers who were spied on because Ashkenazi soured on them and because they remained true to their convictions. It involves the undue influence of Ashkenazi's wife, Ronit, and others in the media who were used by the couple; there was also a national security threat posed by Ashkenazi's oversized ego and his misuse of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit as if it was his own public relations machine. A day after the forged document was exposed, this paper reported that the revelation was on the same scale as the "Zinoviev letter," which was the ultimate example of a criminal con job. When Dr. Ronen Bergman and I approached Benayahu, he stonewalled with brazen contempt for our questions, saying that the book we were about to publish would have him unfairly maligned. Even if the book was biased against him (it isn't), did anyone give Benayahu the right to censor views and opinions? The IDF Spokesperson's Unit did not issue an apology for his misuse of the unit as a means of bolstering Ashkenazi's image. Benayahu was also responsible for the statement that accused Defense Minister Ehud Barak of prohibiting media interviews with Ashkenazi, although it was Ashkenazi who chose to evade the media. The alleged effort to topple the elected government or have Barak go packing failed, because a handful of people, who are among the Sons of Light, stood in defense of democracy. And this despite their many reservations of Barak. On the other side of the divide there was Ashkenazi's camp, backed by media outlets and a lineup of cronies from former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's camp. Harpaz -- not unlike Olmert's former bureau chief Shula Zaken -- was the wheeler-dealer in this whole ordeal. When he approached Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein with his written testimony -- again, like Zaken -- Weinstein wouldn't listen. He had the investigation ground to halt. Harpaz's testimony, which would send chills down anyone's spine, arrived at then-State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss' desk on May 1, 2012. But the wheels of justice turned outrageously slowly: Lindenstrauss' efforts were hindered; Eyal Arad, whose public relations firm's stationery was used in the original Harpaz document without permission, was ignored; but the ongoing revelations guaranteed that the Harpaz Affair would not fizzle. There were some beacons of hope. Those who made sure they were lit should also get the honor of lighting the torches at the main Independence Day event in a few weeks. I am talking about Lindenstrauss, Channel 1 anchorwoman Ayala Hasson, Israel Hayom's Mordechai Gilat, Eliad Shraga and his Movement for Quality Government in Israel, and Arie Avneri, the head of the government watchdog Ometz, Channel 10 legal correspondent Baruch Kra and his colleague on Channel 2, Guy Peleg, Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit, Channel 2 host of "Uvda" Dr. Ilana Dayan, Bergman and myself. Of course, we are talking about alleged crimes at this point, and for the sake of full disclosure I should mention that Harpaz has sued Bergman and me for libel over our book. All the noteworthy people I mentioned had the important role of making sure the saga does not disappear into oblivion. Ultimately, though, Chief Military Advocate General Maj. Gen. Danny Efroni -- loathed by the Ashkenazi people -- made sure there would be a breakthrough. The Israel Police, under the leadership of Commissioner Yohanan Danino, made the right call and launched a criminal probe. The lineup of people who will be summoned by police -- some of whom were or will be questioned under caution -- will include many. The head of the pack is Ashkenazi. Will Danino, who was head of the Israel Police Investigations Branch, make sure his subordinates conduct an impartial investigation? We have every reason to believe so. But what will the State Attorney's Office and the attorney-general do after he submits his findings? Well, they have to prove they are worth their salt.
