ISRAEL/HAARETZ: 4 posts...

 

Netanyahu ordered evacuation of Hebron home over fears of war crimes suits

AG's fear of legal action against Israeli officials at The Hague also reason for state's hesitance regarding authorization of the Ulpana Hill West Bank outpost.

 

By Chaim Levinson 

May, 13, 2012 8:32 PM

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the evacuation of a Hebron home taken by settlers last month after being informed that the expropriation of Palestinian homes and lands could complicate Israeli officials in war crimes litigation, Haaretz learned on Sunday.

Last month, Israeli security forces evacuated Israeli settlers from a house in a Palestinian neighborhood in Hebron, in a surprise move that ended an affair that sparked controversy across Israel and caused a rift in the government. 

Senior officials in the prime minister's office said at the time that the evacuation was carried out after careful coordination between the defense minister and the prime minister. Nevertheless, Netanyahu's aides went on the defensive against right-wing criticism and said that the premier had no choice but to approve the evacuation out of security and legal consideration.

The aides said that during the late night discussion prior to the evacuation no decisions were made regarding the immediate evacuation of the house.

However, in a meeting between Netanyahu, Barak, and Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on the morning of the evacuation, the AG reportedly presented his legal opinion, according to which a lack of strict adherence to the law on the matter could complicate Israel in an international legal crisis. 

Weinstein reportedly told Netanyahu and Barak that the expropriation of Palestinian land and homes, such as the Hebron takeover, could lead to Israeli officials being indicted at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Barak then claimed that the house must be evacuated before the Passover holiday, which led to Netanyahu's order to clear the Hebron outpost.

Sources in the Justice Ministry indicated that they fear the State of Israel or Israeli officials could be charged by the ICC, in operation since 2002. According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, an occupier moving population into occupied land constitutes a war crime.

Weinstein also repeated his stance concerning the contentious Ulpana Hill neighborhood of the West Bank settlement of Beit El.

The AG also expressed his opinion concerning the kind of High Court-bypassing laws suggested by some in the right in order to sanction outposts and settlements found illegal by the court.

Weinstein reportedly expressed the legal system's opposition to the legislation of such laws and warned against what he said were the far-reaching legal consequences of such legislation, since the High Court is viewed around the world as a check maintaining the rule of law.

As of now, among the team of ministers dealing with the issue, Netanyahu, Barak, and Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon oppose such a law, citing, among other reasons, the AG's opposition. Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, however, supports such legislation, with the stance of new Vice Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz not yet clear.

A spokesperson at the Justice Ministry refused to comment on the issue.

Earlier Sunday, a ministerial legislation panel rejected a bill geared at applying Israeli law on settlements in the West Bank, following an intervention by Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman.

The justice minister's move came after it had become apparent that the bill would pass the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, after nine of the panel's members indicated that they would back the legislation.

At that point, Neeman attempted to convince the bill's initiator Likud MK Miri Regev to postpone the vote to a later date, in a bid to avert a head-on collision between Netanyahu's government and the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

As a result of Regev's continued insistence, Neeman made it clear that it was Netanyahu's position to vote against the bill, at which point panel members reversed their original votes.

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Former President Moshe Katsav gets 7 years in jail for rape.Katsav also receives two years probation and is ordered to pay NIS 125,000 compensation to his victims; judges: No man is above the law.

 

By Ofra Edelman | May, 22, 2011 | 9:03 AM

 

Former President of the State of Israel Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years in jail Tuesday, for after he had previously been found guilty of rape and other sexual offenses.

The court also ruled that Katsav must also serve two years of probation and pay NIS 100,000 to his rape victim, a former employee of the Tourism Ministry known as A., and to pay NIS 25,000 to L., a former employee of the President's Residence, whom he had sexually harrased and abused.

Katsav will begin serving his sentence on May 8, 2011.

In December, the Tel Aviv District Court judges, George Karra, Judith Shevach and Miriam Sokolov, handed down a unanimous verdict on Katsav's case after complaints had surfaced of sexual offenses against various subordinates during Katsav’s terms as tourism minister and president.

"On December 30, 2010, the defendant was convicted of committing serious sexual offenses against women who were subordinate to him," the judges ruled in a majority opinion.

"The crime of rape damages and destroys a person's soul… Due to the severity of the crime, the punishment must be clear and precise," the judges said. 

"The defendant committed the crime and like every other person, he must bear the consequences. No man is above the law." 

"The contention that seeing a former president of the country go to jail is too painful to watch is an emotional argument, but it definitely cannot be accepted as an ethical argument."

A. from the Tourism Ministry, the main complainant in the case against Katsav, expressed satisfaction at the judges' sentence.

"Even though this is not a happy day for me, I definitely feel fulfilled and satisfied with the sentence - which fits the grave acts that were outlined in the court ruling," said A..

A. added that she did not put an "extreme importance" on the sentencing, saying she cared most about the court ruling in December which showed that the court believed her and did her justice.

"I would like to return to my life, my family and my anonymity. I am happy that this sad affair is nearing its end."

The former president and Likud minister was convicted of raping and sexually assaulting A. - a former employee of the Tourism Ministry while he was minister. He was also found guilty of sexually harassing H., of sexually abusing and harassing L. from the President’s Residence and obstruction of justice. 

The year-long trial took place almost entirely behind closed doors and left the public wondering whether the 65-year-old Katsav was wise to drop out of a plea bargain two years ago.

The plea deal meant Katsav would not face the most serious charges and promised him a suspended sentence at worse, but the former president decided to prove his innocence in court. 

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European Union to slam Israel's actions in West Bank

Netanyahu envoy Isaac Molho delivers letter to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

 

By Barak Ravid 

May, 13, 2012  12:42 AM

The 27 foreign ministers of the European Union are expected Monday to issue a harsh denunciation of Israel's activities on the West Bank. The EU's Foreign Affairs Council will criticize violence by Jewish settlers against Palestinians and will call on Israel to remove restrictions on Palestinian construction and economic development projects in Area C of the West Bank, which under the Oslo Accords was under exclusive Israeli control.

The condemnation, contained in an official council conclusion, is exceptional because of its length - three pages - as well as its detailed accounting of Israeli actions in the West Bank in the past several months. According to a high-ranking European diplomat who has seen a draft of the resolution, the EU foreign ministers will rebuke Israel for the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They will denounce settler violence against Palestinians and call on the Israeli government to prosecute such actions.

Meanwhile, at a meeting in Ramallah on Saturday Netanyahu's envoy for the peace process, attorney Isaac Molho, gave Abbas a letter from Netanyahu on the impasse in the peace process. It was a response to a letter to Netanyahu from Abbas from a few weeks ago, in which the PA leader blamed Israel for the derailment of the peace process.

A senior Israeli official said that in his response Netanyahu called for the immediate resumption of talks without preconditions, but did not propose any new ideas.

Before meeting with Molho, Abbas spoke on the phone with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The EU resolution demands that Israel allow Palestinians to build houses and be allowed more freedom to pursue economic activity in Area C, which comprises more than half of the area of the West Bank.

Additionally, it calls on Israel to allow the EU to help the Palestinians to build economic infrastructure projects and to refrain from destroying them, as has happened a few times in the past few months.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was behind the conclusion, which has the support of the French, British and German foreign ministers.

A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that in the past two weeks Israel has tried to block the conclusion. Israeli ambassadors in a number of European capitals filed vehement protests to their host government, in which they argued that the resolution would complicate efforts to renew peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. They also argued that the new unity government in Jerusalem is in a strong position to renew the peace talks, and that a negative message from EU foreign ministers would only encourage Palestinian intransigence.

The United States, Italy and the Netherlands also tried to help soften the wording of the conclusion, to little effect. Only minor changes were made in the resolution, which is expected to gain approval on Monday.

"The resolution portrays the situation on the ground," a senior European diplomat said. "The moment Ashton, the Germans, the French and the British pushed this forward the process could not be stopped."

In its bid to forestall the resolution Israel pointed to the recent exchange of letters between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. 

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Israel transformed from democracy to an oligarchy

Those who are on the sidelines and are forced to wait their turn have only been able to substantiate half of their claims - that the current leaders are unworthy.

 

By Amir Oren 

May, 13, 2012 3:32 AM

A lieutenant colonel reservist in the Israeli Air Force brought his car to a halt and rolled down the window, the morning after Shaul Mofaz deserted the opposition and joined the government. "Why do they lie to us like this?" he asked. "These are our commanders, people who demand complete accountability, and who send us out to battle." Then he drove on to his job in a security factory, where he produced another war weapon. 

Tomorrow, at the Hatzor base, Amir Eshel will take the reins of command at the IAF, replacing Ido Nechushtan. Superiors (the Chief of Staff and government ministers ), peers (major generals ) and subordinates expect that the IAF commander will act with integrity, disclose nothing but the truth, not conceal hard facts and refrain from issuing empty promises. A pilot or air force technician would be ousted and jailed were he to act in the duplicitous manner adopted by the political leadership, those heads of state who are in charge of the army. When the government is constituted of lies, and more lies, every soldier, and every civilian, is entitled to doubt the set of calculations that motivate fateful policy decisions. 

Since last week, Israel has been governed by an oligarchy. These are self-styled lords of the manor who have power over civil and military sectors, and share the spoils of rule between themselves. The subjects can talk, but have no influence. Israel has been transformed from the only democracy in the region, to a democracy where power is held by only a few. Nothing will change during the next national elections, which have been postponed. 

One damaging result of the widely-felt disillusionment and sense of helplessness to do anything about the politicians' machinations is the rise of apathy. Voter turnout, which could have been a palpable reflection of social ferment and protest, is liable to decline. Many citizens, perhaps more than ever before, sense that there is no point in casting ballots. They have trouble identifying with any of the existing parties, whose leaders will strike alliances at the conclusion of the elections, to divvy up the spoils of power. 

The most effective device wielded by the leaders to preserve their hegemony is the cooling-off laws, the rules barring discharged IDF officers and retired security officials from entering public service for defined periods of time. The idea behind this law is to prevent top IDF officers and security figures from taking their future political careers into account in a way that prejudices their judgment while they serve in sensitive positions. The old situation which enabled officers to leap into politics just a few months, weeks or even hours (as in Ezer Weizman's case ) after they left the army was insufferable. 

Now the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, with cooling-off schemes mandating a three-year waiting period, or forcing a discharged officer to wait for the second election season after he leaves the army. These ideas are erroneous. They leave on the sidelines a capable crew of people who could contribute to civilian life; instead of serving the country in new roles, such people will be forced to sit on the national bench for several full seasons. 

Those who are legislating the waiting period rule are politicians who would not have become ministers or MKs during the past two decades, had their own new rules prevailed at the time. These lawmakers have prevented future rivals from running for office, but they can't stop them from speaking out. The waiting period is not solitary confinement, and it encourages derailed, would-be politicians to shout out from the sidelines. In fact, the fact that they are suspended lends credibility to their accusations and warnings: Nobody can say that such sidelined figures speak out of narrow self-interest, since they have no hope of running for office in the near future. 

This is a group of sidelined figures who do not constitute one ideological bloc. They are not likely to end up in the same political party, and they have little in common other than revulsion for Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak. Joining the group is Tzipi Livni, who has voluntarily imposed upon herself a waiting period. Their situation is akin to that of Yitzhak Rabin in politics, and Mordechai Gur in the army, in the fall of 1973: on the sidelines, they are ready to spring into action when the current leadership does its utmost to bring about a catastrophe. Netanyahu himself left the sidelines in 2002, as did Barak in 2007. 

Those who are on the sidelines and are forced to wait their turn have only been able to substantiate half of their claims - that the current leaders are unworthy. Yet these politicians-in-waiting have yet to prove that they are different, and will not succumb to the temptation of stooping as low as a politician can possibly sink, in order to reach the pinnacle of power.