Gov't Report Reveals Corruption at Highest Levels

With Israeli elections just around the corner, we can safely assume that all major political developments are at least in part one group or another's attempt to win favor with the electorate. Operation Cast Lead was one example of political maneuvering, and quite possibly the most significant one of this election. It has seemed to achieve its goals of creating a sense of national unity, feelings of patriotism, and a strong distrust of outsiders and their criticisms. In short, the country has been put in a war mood.

This is good for Prime Minister candidate Bibi Netanyahu, who has already held the office from 1996 to 1999, as leader of the conservative Likud party. Support for the latest Gaza war and Israelis' tendency to go insular when they are threatened has made his success much more likely.

This could be the reason a secret government report revealing settlement construction to be illegal and corrupted has recently been released, even though it was completed over two years ago. What's more is that the research was done by the Israeli government and at the behest of former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz, another right-wing candidate for Prime Minister in this election.

Ha'aretz writes:

An analysis of the data reveals that, in the vast majority of the settlements - about 75 percent - construction, sometimes on a large scale, has been carried out without the appropriate permits or contrary to the permits that were issued.

Now, let's deconstruct this in order to fully realize the significance. Building without permits is a pretty piddly violation. If building without permits was the only accusation we could make against the Israeli government, I wouldn't have anything to write about. What makes this significant is that Palestinian homes built without permits are demolished, oftentimes without warning, meaning the residents not only lose their home, but many of their possessions as well. Before the appearance of this report, government spokesmen could make all the excuses they want about these demolitions, but now, they can no longer claim Palestinians receive equal treatment in this regard.

Moving on:

The database also shows that, in more than 30 settlements, extensive construction of buildings and infrastructure (roads, schools, synagogues, yeshivas and even police stations) has been carried out on private lands belonging to Palestinian West Bank residents.

The government admits that it knowingly builds on the property of the West Bank's Palestinian residents.

The Ha'aretz article, besides a summary of the report, includes interviews with settler leaders and Housing Ministry officials. Not surprisingly, they all pass the buck higher and higher, until it becomes clear that decisions regarding the illegal building come from the very heights from which the order to compile the report was given. Nevermind why Shaul Mofaz would order a report written that could very well cost him the election, the question is: who released the report to the public, two years after its completion?

The answer, if I may speculate, comes from the left. If Operation Cast Lead hurt Tzipi Livni's chances in the election, this report does the same to her right-wing competitors. If the electorate knows their government is out looking for trouble, support of the Gaza war could wane, thus giving Livni the boost she needs at the polls.

Olmert's Last Gasp

Haaretz announced today that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is finally being indicted for corruption charges. Olmert has been under investigation for suspicion of bribery since early May of this year.

Last month, when the bribery investigation reached critical mass, Olmert agreed to step down as soon as an election for leadership of the Kadima party was held. The two front runners for the party are Tzipi Livni, a politician on par with Obama in that she has great potential but has not been tested, and Shaul Mofaz, a man Palestinian leaders said would "derail the peace process."

Two weeks ago, Livni agreed to release 200 Palestinian prisoners in a show of good faith to faciliate peace negotiations.

And today, in one of his last gasp efforts to leave a meaningful legacy, Olmert proposed to prepare for the eventual evacuation of Israeli settlers from the West Bank.

He wasn't saying they should actually evacuate. He's just saying they should be prepared. An ounce of prevention or what have you.

But Mofaz made his opposition to the proposal known right away:

"The bill weakens the position of Israel in all future negotiations and I will not lend my hand to it," said Mofaz, a frontrunner in this month's Kadima leadership battle.

Note that Olmert suggested that the government should prepare for the evacuation of settlers living east of the security fence, not settlers living east of the green line, otherwise known as the pre-1967 border.

Nevertheless, suggesting that Israelis be evacuated from anywhere in the West Bank is not an advisable action for any Israeli politician whose retirement isn't already imminent. The last Israeli politician who made formal land concessions to the Palestinians was assasinated.

Tzipi Snatches Dangled Carrot

Last week, I wrote about Israel's hotly debated leadership. Warhawk Shaul Mofaz and moderate Tzipi Livni are still the two frontrunners for leadership of the Kadima party, and most likely Israel.

But waaa-aaay-yay down at the bottom of that article I wrote about the proverbial dangled carrot in this scenario. The PA had released a statement saying that if Mofaz were elected, the peace process would halt. They even stated that for the current peace plans to proceed, Tzipi has to win.

Oh and then they asked Tzipi to release a few hundred Palestinian prisoners as a show of good faith. I personally was in favor of this move because, just as the article states, such a move would garner the PA some favor among the people, which would give them more power to actually accomplish stuff. But I really did not except Tzipi, and Israel, to come through on it.

And then they did.

According to Haaretz, Israel has approved the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom "have blood on their hands," whatever that means.

And Tzipi says:

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the leading Kadima candidate to succeed Olmert, said the release showed Palestinians that dialogue, not violence, achieved the best results.

Israel's Leadership Under Hot Debate

With Israeli Prime Minister Olmert stepping down amid numerous accusations of bribery, Kadima party leadership is now being debated. Olmert vowed that he would resign as soon as a new leader of his party was chosen. The winner of that primary will then be named Prime Minister.

One of the frontrunners for party leadership is Shaul Mofaz, a native of Iran, who recently denounced his home country as "the root of all evil" and hinted at the ever-present option of attacking Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment.

He then pledged to oversee peace talks with the Palestinians personally and vowed he would produce actual results.

In Haaretz:

"I have more years of experience than others. I will give the negotiations with the Palestinians utmost priority. I will do my best to advance them and to achieve results, and that's a promise. I will put all of my weight behind it and will deal with it personally," he said.

"They know me, after all," Mofaz continued, "Abu Mazen [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas], [Palestinian Authority Prime Minister] Salam Fayyad and [PA chief negotiator] Saeb Erekat. They'll say that everything I promised, I delivered. True, I don't go easy in negotiations, I'm not a man of words - I'm a man of actions and I promise to bring results. It won't happen in two days and maybe not in a year, but there will be results."

Then he continued to blather on in a very convincing fashion about why the peace talks are important.

"For years I experienced the hardship of war, the suffering of battles and the loss of friends, subordinates and commanders .... Kadima under my leadership will continue the path of previous prime ministers who worked to bring peace and security for Israel," Mofaz said.

But then the Palestinian Authority issued a statement about Mofaz's candidacy that makes me think he doesn't know what he's talking about. Just maybe.

In a Haaretz article titled, "PA: Mofaz as head of Kadima would be disaster for peace":

A victory by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz in next month's Kadima Party leadership race would be a disaster for the peace process, senior Palestinian Authority officials say.

The officials said that an American-Palestinian plan for the continuation of the process is contingent on Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni winning the primary. A Mofaz victory, in contrast, would send the talks into a deep freeze, given his hawkish views.

But in a dangled carrot, the newspaper does reveal an opportunity for Israel and the PA to help each other:

The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan reported Tuesday that a list of the Palestinians Abbas wants released, which also includes many others of the longest-serving prisoners, was given to Livni during her meetings in Washington with the head of the PA negotiating team, Ahmed Qureia. Qureia told Livni that the release of these prisoners would play an important role in bolstering the PA's status among the general Palestinian public.

I think it was Sun Tzu or some other Chinese genius who said that you cannot win without helping your opponent save face. And here Israel has an opportunity to do just that. The question is whether the cries of the right wing warhawks will drown out the logic speaking quietly from inside this option.