No normalcy without sanctions

Pale but with his head held high, looking apprehensive but not meek, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert entered the Jerusalem District Court Tuesday with the realization that his trial was drawing to a close. The tireless controversy has come to an end, and the case was now approaching the Gates of Repentance, leaving him at the mercy of the court.

Some of Tuesday's proceedings were embarrassing. Olmert's business partner, former Mossad director Meir Dagan, submitted two letters in his defense, one of which contained defense secrets meant to garner some sympathy for Olmert from the judges. But what does that have to do with anything-

A parade of character witnesses followed, starting with his adopted daughter Shuli Nidas. Each one spoke of Olmert as the man who always took an interest and lent a hand, and after concluding their testimony, each one of them was embraced by the longest arms Israeli politics have ever known. They must really be in his debt.

Prosecutor Uri Korev did not try to discount the emotional statements made by Olmert's character witnesses. This was a smart approach, as he admitted that the defendant should still be credited for his past good deeds, even after committing such serious felonies. But he then shifted the focus back to the reason the trial was being held in the first place. The illegally obtained funds, the underhanded dealings, the ongoing deception and the necessity to put this man behind bars. As Maj. Gen. Yoram Yair said, quoting Rafael Eitan: "There will be no normalcy without sanctions."

Everyone seemed embarrassed. Judge Jacob Zaban, who presided over the hearing, was visibly impatient. Judges who overturn acquittals are placed in an uncomfortable position, as they have to pass judgement on the defendant, and anything less than jail time would deal a blow to vital norms.

Olmert defended himself in a completely different tone than the aggressive one he took following his conviction in the Holyland trial. He did not answer the prosecutor's call to express remorse, but described, in a horrified tone, the anguish he has already suffered, over the fact that his grandchildren's teachers told them about their grandfather's crimes.

The courtroom was packed and there was a tragic atmosphere about, and all the court could do was set the date for a final verdict -- May 25.

Olmert clearly does not want to see that day, and it reminded me of a line my teacher at the Herzliya Hebrew Gymnasium high school had made us memorize, "O, never shall sun that morrow see" from William Shakespeare's Macbeth. I wondered whether than sentiment echoed with the accused as he awaits his fate, wishing that day will never come.

טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו