Lieberman does the right thing

Shortly after Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein announced on Thursday that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman would not be indicted on the more serious corruption allegations against him, but rather on lesser fraud and breach of trust charges, Lieberman said that he did not plan to quit his post. But less than 24 hours later, Lieberman backtracked and announced his resignation. What caused this dramatic turnabout?

According to Lieberman's associates, the foreign minister never unequivocally said that he would not quit, a claim that is backed by a close parsing of Lieberman's speech on Thursday. However, it was clear that Lieberman at least wanted to give the impression that he was not going anywhere.

Lieberman's resignation announcement on Friday was based on three factors. One was a deep concern that the petitions to the High Court of Justice filed by Meretz and the Movement for Quality Government in Israel would lead to him being forced to quit the government. Although the charges against him are less serious than the ones that led the High Court of Justice to force Aryeh Deri out of the government in 1999, Lieberman was worried about a repeat of that story.

Lieberman also knew that Weinstein would probably not give him two gifts in one week. Lieberman received priceless Hannukah gelt from Weinstein when the attorney-general decided to not file the more serious indictment against him. But it was unlikely that Lieberman would also experience the miracle of having Weinstein determine he could stay in office despite his indictment on fraud and breach of trust in the Belarus ambassador affair.

Weinstein would have told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Lieberman must resign and the High Court of Justice would have supported this position. No matter what, Lieberman could not have remained a minister, but his decision to initiate his departure was the correct move. The Likud party, which was concerned about the No. 2 candidate on its joint list with Yisrael Beytenu being tried for fraud and breach of trust, accepted Lieberman's resignation in a respectful manner. This will help the Likud prevent the leakage of votes to the center-left parties.

The decisive factor, however, that led to Lieberman's resignation was his belief that a large part of the public understood his decision not to betray Zeev Ben Aryeh, our former ambassador in Belarus. Ben Aryeh did indeed break the law and allegedly sought to help Lieberman obstruct justice. But slandering Ben Aryeh would be a sign of ungratefulness. Lieberman felt that Ben Aryeh's behavior was condemnable but also should be accepted with understanding.

Weinstein, who had hoped to put the ball back in the court of others, will soon find that the fight has been renewed. Lieberman will seek an expedited verdict, something that his political opponents will try to thwart. If Lieberman agrees to a plea bargain, the question of whether he committed moral turpitude will arise.

Weinstein hopes that he has been freed of the burden of the Lieberman case. But the tension, differences of opinion and need for decision-making still remain in the Lieberman case. There is still a long way to go.