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Government Moves to Discredit Police

 Jerusalem, June 17--Israel’s government appointed a judicial committee of inquiry under the Committees of Inquiry Act to investigate the police investigation of Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon, who was convicted last year of sexual misconduct.
 
Ramon was appointed Justice Minister when Ehud Olmert’s government was elected in 2006, with a mandate to reform the ministry. He was charged with indecent behavior after he kissed a female IDF officer stationed in the Prime Minister’s office, and forced to leave his ministerial post. Ramon was convicted of indecent behavior in Jerusalem Municipal Court, but a higher court later ruled that the act did not constitute felonious behavior, which would have disqualified him from holding office. He now holds a different cabinet post.
 
During Ramon’s trial it was revealed that the police wiretapped his telephone conversations and did not submit the transcripts to Ramon’s lawyers as required by law. Two internal investigations revealed serious irregularities by police, prosecutors and judges, including suspicions that the plaintiff in the case was pressured by the police to file charges, that warrants for the wiretaps were obtained under false pretexts, that the judge who issued them did so carelessly and without checking whether they were really warranted, and concealing the fact of the wiretapping from the defense. None of those involved have been disciplined by the Justice Ministry.
 
An official committee of inquiry has the statutory authority to subpoena witnesses, including law enforcement officers, and to apply sanctions to erring civil servants. If the committee of inquiry confirms the findings of the prior investigations it can punish those responsible.
 
The inquiry is politically significant because of the history of tension between the Olmert government, especially its former and present Justice Ministers, Haim Ramon and Daniel Friedmann, and the legal establishment — career judges, prosecutors and police. In recent months the legal establishment has been portraying itself in Israel’s press as the last bulwark of Israeli democracy against corrupt politicians. The outcome of the latest investigation may provide evidence that corruption is not confined to elected officials. This would be an additional blow to the legal establishment’s public prestige.
 
The establishment of the commission of inquiry drew sharp reactions from defenders of the legal establishment, who accused the government of undermining law and order by attempting to discredit the police.
 
(Also see editorial in latest issue of Israel Liberty Monitor)

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