At the courthouse on Monday, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a seat relatively far from the defendants' table, as he always does. Co-defendant Shula Zaken, Olmert's former assistant now turned state's witness, was given permission by the court to go home. Co-defendant Danny Dankner arrived at the courthouse in jeans and a T-shirt, looking as though he was on his way to spending a nice day at the beach. Another defendant, former Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, beamed as a slew of character witnesses praised him again and again. Additional co-defendants former Jerusalem city engineer Uri Shitrit and developer Avigdor Kellner were described as courageous military fighters who stuck to their guns in battle. Any onlooker would be overwhelmed with questions: On the one hand, how is it that everything was done (or not done) on these people's say so? How is it that they manipulated the Israeli economy to suit their needs? They were involved in everything: salt evaporation ponds in Atlit, Bank Hapoalim, and of course the Holyland real-estate development -- the subject of the criminal charges against them. In their arrogance, they were so convinced that they were untouchable that when Kellner warned that when the late businessman Shmuel Dechner would rat on them if they didn't "butter him up," Olmert blew him off, saying that Dechner wouldn't dare. As far as the law is concerned, it is good that their arrogance ended up being their downfall. It is good that some unseen power caused them to harden their hearts and refuse to line Dechner's pockets with forbidden money (prompting him to testify against them). It is good that Dechner found then-Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz and former State Prosecutor Moshe Lador and his deputy Yoav Segalovich. It is good that the last thing he did in his life, unlike everything that came before it, was a good deed that served the sons of light against the sons of darkness. But where did this arrogance shared by Olmert and his buddies come from? On the other hand, how could people like Shitrit and Kellner, who infiltrated terror cells in Lebanon and crossed the Suez Canal in their tanks and, when wounded, escaped from the hospital to return to the battlefield to fight, commit the terrible act of taking bribes? How could they risk their lives for Israel, and then corrupt Israel to the core? At the end of the day, it was not the character witnesses' (well-deserved) praise that made the impression on Judge David Rozen, but rather the remarks made by Yonatan Tadmor of the prosecution. In a concise, to-the-point fashion, Tadmor explained why these formerly omnipotent figures deserved serious punishments, and one after another the numbers started flying -- the number of years each of these formerly revered individuals should spend in prison. Our hearts are filled with sorrow as well as compassion, but mostly anger. Anger over the crimes, but also over the character assassination campaign Olmert waged against so many sons of light at the State Prosecutor's Office and the Attorney-General's Office and among his former entourage. But all this darkness was finally overcome on Monday by the prosecutor. His request for long jail sentences for Olmert and his gang signaled that there is still enough light to shine into the dark corners occupied by convicted criminals.
