History seems determined to play one dirty trick after another on the Middle East peace process. The latest is the corruption case that has touched Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even though Netanyahu has dodged a criminal indictment, the legal and political fallout from an ugly Cabinet-level scandal is likely to churn on for months to come, a major distraction from efforts to get peace negotiations going again.
On Sunday, top Israeli prosecutors announced they did not believe there was enough evidence to justify charges against the prime minister for fraud and breach of trust in connection with the appointment of a controversial justice official earlier this year. But while Netanyahu will not have to face an Israeli court, he still will have to spend a lot of time and energy clearing his name before the public.
Even as they declined to follow up on police recommendations that Netanyahu be indicted, the prosecutors conceded they had a “tangible suspicion” about the legality of his role in the installation of Roni Bar-On as attorney general. In their investigation of the scandal, Israeli police found evidence that Bar-On’s elevation was the product of a corrupt bargain aimed at securing lenient treatment for one of the prime minister’s close political allies.
According to the police scenario, Bar-On was supposed to arrange a plea bargain for Aryeh Deri, leader of the Shas Party. In return for Bar-On’s appointment, Shas would support Netanyahu’s plan to withdraw Israeli troops from the West Bank city of Hebron.
Prosecutors said Sunday they intend to indict Deri and pursue an investigation of one of Netanyahu’s aides.
If this weren’t enough to guarantee the scandal will have a choke hold on Israeli politics for the foreseeable future, the opposition is demanding that Netanyahu resign and an appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court is being readied, in hope the justices will overrule prosecutors and hand down an indictment.
All this is terrible news for those who still hope the peace process can be revived before rigor mortis sets in. A bold move by Netanyahu to reopen talks with the Palestinians strikes us as a good way to start restoring his reputation. But based on his previous hard-line behavior, it’s more likely the prime minister will use his personal problems as one more excuse to let the peace process languish.
