High Court Justices Isaac Amit, Zvi Zylbertal and Noam Sohlberg rejected on Tuesday the petition filed by the Movement of Quality Government in Israel to force the prosecution to sign a plea bargain with Shula Zaken, so that she could testify against her former boss, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, but it didn't work. This was after prosecution representative attorney Avinoam Segal-Elad presented the judges with a confidential document containing new information pertinent to the Holyland corruption trial. In their denial of Movement of Quality Government in Israel attorney Eliad Shraga's petition, the judges issued a convoluted, unequivocal, riddle of statement: "Of course if, as long as there is a change in the relevant evidential foundation, any side will be allowed to act as it sees fit, and regardless, the court's doors are open." I do not know the contents of the confidential document, but I can only assume that behind the judges' esteemed comment possibly lies a repeated visitor to these parts -- the "raven." If there was any doubt, Channel 2's Moshe Nussbaum went on air and reported that the police was trying to understand how Zaken reversed course, in the midst of the Holyland trial, regarding the amenable plea bargain she signed (11 months in prison), secured by her attorneys Ofer Bartal and Dov Gilad. As the final details of the plea bargain were revealed, it was described on these very pages how Zaken, her friends and her legal team raised a glass to toast the deal. That night, however, the mysterious "raven" paid her a visit, causing her to change her mind and refuse to sign the plea bargain. Who is it? What is it? Nussbaum told the viewers the police are seeking an answer to this very question, as well as who paid her legal fees in the trial, during which she saved Olmert by refusing to testify against him. Olmert, for his part, already confirmed in his testimony during the Holyland trial that his good friend and billionaire Daniel Abrams -- who bought Olmert's Jerusalem apartment on Kaf Tet Benovember Street from him -- donated to Zaken's defense. Is this the raven? The police are checking. Channel 10's Baruch Kra reported a far-reaching turn in the case, according to which the prosecution has renewed contact with Zaken. This is surprising, and her lawyers understandably tried keeping it a secret. My belief is that in this context the raven will fly along the following route: It is possible that Zaken has already given the police another version of events. Theoretically, it is possible that a signed and sealed plea bargain will be presented to Judge David Rozen. If Zaken indeed revealed what happened on the night the raven paid a visit, during which she decided to renege on her initial plea bargain, then I believe she will not be forced to take the witness stand again to tell us and prosecutors Liat Ben-Ari and Yonatan Tadmor will ask for her punishment to be reduced. Not now -- before the court issues its ruling -- but during sentencing arguments. It appears the Olmert affairs are among the most grave Israel has known. From the public's perspective, it is part and parcel with the investigation into the conduct of former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and his cohort. The public has a right to know what happened, whether in court or not. It is obligated to know, even if the information only comes in a trickle.
