I couldn't believe my ears. Using clear, rich and detailed language, with an uncompromising conscious and expressing the truth, in what could have been used as a guide for the Jerusalem justices presiding over the previous round of legal proceedings, Justice David Rozen thoroughly dissected Ehud Olmert's crimes. Without exuding rage. Without blood in his eyes. But also without flattering the man in power, and without the assumptions that often riddle the role of delivering a verdict for those who see themselves as somewhere above the rest of the nation.
In his extensive 700-page verdict, Olmert was portrayed neither as just as a bribe-taking public official, nor solely a man who intentionally tried to mislead the court delivering his testimony over the character (awful, as it may be) of state witness Shmuel Dechner. More than any of that, Rozen depicted Olmert as the point man of a crime gang. That's what Rozen discovered, despite the veritable castle of support built by Olmert's attorneys, his elite associates in Jerusalem and abroad, and the heads of universities, fawning over him as is if he were still the valid prime minister.
Rozen's verdict was admirably crafted. He laid forth the principles and values with which to lead Israeli society, beyond the individual fates of Olmert and members of his coterie. The "Amoses," "Ariks," "Moshiks,"Bennys," Alfreds" and "Amnons" emerged from those pages stark naked, although the ruling did not directly deal with them or their money, or the articles they amassed to shield the corrupt offender.
One could assume that Amnon Dankner is rolling in his grave, especially given both his recommendation that former State Attorney Moshe Lador wrap a noose around his neck and go hang himself, and his derision of one of Olmert's critics, likening him to a "dog lapping up his own vomit." Really, Lador deserves some recognition for demanding a testimony from Moshe Talansky before the case commenced in court. And he wasn't alone. Olmert hired spokesmen and crass public relations people to paint erstwhile State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, Attorney-General Menachem (Meni) Mazuz, Finance Ministry Accountant-General Yaron Zelicha, State Comptroller's Office anti-corruption committee consultant Yaakov Borovsky, State Comptroller's Office attorney Rina Kramf, Movement of Quality Government in Israel attorney Eliad Shraga and a host of journalists as "clowns," "pathetic" and "liars," even going after complicit individuals such as Shula Zaken and Uri Messer -- and the list goes on. It isn't to hard to guess what they're probably saying about Rozen and plaintiffs Liat Ben-Ari and Yonatan (Yoni) Tadmor now.
And where are former Justice Minister Daniel Friedman and his group of supporters, who came under vituperative attack by former Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch? And where is former Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, who wouldn't leave Mazuz alone? Woe is me, they cried, "the acting prime minister has been dismissed," as if it were wrong to be saddened by such a corrupt individual's rise to the throne. As former Minister Dan Meridor and I sometimes ask ourselves, quoting the poet Shaul Tchernichovsky, "Where we went wrong / has yet to be determined."
Yesterday, the cup was half empty. It's sad, embarrassing and depressing to see who became prime minister, and the kind of corrupt abscess that influenced his life and surroundings. But the cup was also half full: In one fell swoop, a single justice managed to remove the distortion that such dark individuals had spread throughout the justice system, restoring not only the Israeli patriot's pride in his legal system, but his great hope too.
On Monday, we learned that indeed "a judge presides in Tel Aviv." If only I could have sent all 700 pages of Rozen's verdict to Jerusalem District Court President Moussia Arad and her fellow justices, who lacked Rozen's courage, willingness and intention to call a corrupt individual just that, "corrupt," not a "beneficiary," and to call corruption what it is, "corruption," not by some other sugarcoated name.
A personal note: No, I am neither sorry nor have regrets. I do not regret denouncing with tooth and nail Justice Arad and her fellow justices, certainly not now. I became Olmert's friend -- like a brother -- when he was a one-man Movement for Quality Government. I remained in a blood pact with Olmert-A -- the son of light who, from a spiritual point of view, long passed away. Olmert-B, whom I no longer count among my friends, is the individual who took bribes, who became a son of darkness. Somehow, he kept me from sensing the foul play until much later, but thank God I stood by my beliefs amid such stark differences of opinion. And oh, the compassion I feel for my colleagues who continue to judge him favorably, fudging the truth until the very last moment. Justice was Aristotle's, who said he loved both Plato and the truth, but the truth even more.
When the verdict was being delivered on Monday, I recalled myself 60 years ago. I remembered ditching the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium to visit the courthouse of Jerusalem-native Judge Benjamin Halevy, for the first time in my life. I remember feeling fear and trembling at the sight of attorney Shmuel Tamir as he lashed out at Dr. Rudolf Kastner and the Yishuv leadership for failing to mitigate the impact of the Holocaust against Hungarian Jews.
Afterward, I saw Tamir battling to purge the police of its sons of darkness in the name of Israel's original civic volunteer association, Shurat Hamitnadvim. I saw Victoria Ostrovsky-Cohen help bring about the conviction of Police Commissioner Yehezkel Sahar for perjury. I saw Deputy Attorney-General Yehoshua Reznik lead charges against Aryeh Deri. And I heard Judge George Karra convict president-prisoner Moshe Katzav. Sixty years ago, I felt the ground shake in Levy's courthouse, and I never felt that again until Monday, when Rozen delivered his verdict.
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו