Israel needs an exemplary president
The ugly practice of presidential candidates dragging each other down has become an instrument for those who claim to be fighting corruption yet immediately add a "but," as if warning that excessive purity is detrimental to getting to the actual truth.
But this is not so. Uncovering the truth is more important than anything else. For eight years, we heard empty arguments against the "ousting of a serving prime minister" and the preliminary testimony given about the misdeeds of Ehud Olmert, who was later sentenced to six years in prison. It is clear that Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, despite being found with $700,000, is innocent, but he is not fit to serve as president. The circumstances disqualify him, even if he did not commit a crime.
No one is automatically entitled to any public role, not those who tried and failed to obtain one, and not those who were prevented from seeking one due to unproven criminal allegations. A decade ago, an investigation against Reuven Rivlin prevented him from becoming justice minister. Instead, he was appointed communications minister. Rivlin understandably grumbled, but he was wrong. He eventually emerged from the investigation "free of guilt," the highest level of exoneration. But it would have been unseemly had the exoneration occurred after Rivlin had sat under the same roof as the state attorney. Luckily, this scenario was avoided.
In effect, the 2014 presidential election campaign shifted the norms. Seven years from now, no candidate will be able to run without knowing that his or her declaration of assets will be scrutinized by the public or that an unusual agreement with a housekeeper, driver or personal assistant will be noticed. On Monday, Meir Sheetrit seemingly presented his declaration of assets, but in fact only gave a list of his apartments. Tricks like this will not hold water next time.
We must hope that the new reality produced by this dirty presidential campaign will continue in the coming years. It is not true that this campaign delegitimized wealth. Nobel laureate Dan Shechtman accumulated assets over the years that made him rich and no one sees this as problematic. Rivlin and Dalia Dorner are modest about their wealth, not waving it around. This is proper behavior, but it does not necessarily give them an advantage.
On Tuesday afternoon, Israel will know who will be its 10th president. If the winner is an exemplary role model who can sow together the nation's divisions, then we will be able to wholeheartedly proclaim, "Long live the president!" even though the election process was a Caesarean section.
