BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

03/03/2010

The Belarus probe / Diplomafia

By Amir Oren

There is a big difference between Aryeh Deri and his friend Avigdor Lieberman. Deri was interior minister and he wanted to stay out - out of prison. Lieberman is a foreign minister who is making every effort not to find himself inside - inside a prison, should he be tried, convicted and sentenced.

Lieberman is a constant, persistent scarlet letter on the forehead of the Israeli government, and the fact that Labor is in a coalition with him is yet more proof of how low the party has fallen. But the man who gave him the Foreign Ministry added insult to injury - Benjamin Netanyahu made Israel the butt of an international joke.

Until yesterday, Lieberman was suspected of criminal wrongdoing, and was waiting for the state prosecutor and the attorney general on whether to accept the police's recommendation to indict him. If he is charged, this may end his government tenure.

Yesterday things changed for the worse: Police said they believe the former ambassador to Belarus, Ze'ev Ben Aryeh, gave Lieberman investigative material that was meant for the Belarus authorities. Now Lieberman is not only suspected of crimes, but also of turning the Foreign Ministry into a tool for disrupting the investigation. If this turns out to be true, this will show that in place of diplomacy, Israel has a diplomafia.

When Lieberman insisted on the Foreign Ministry and not the treasury, some said he planned to bolster his international ties, especially in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so that he could continue his business activities after leaving public life. Now it turns out that Lieberman is not waiting to reap benefits. Who but the foreign minister can ensure that an ambassador serve him personally, like Ben Aryeh allegedly did?

Something is terribly rotten in the diplomatic service, if it includes people who behave like Ben Aryeh allegedly did. Even though generalizing is hurtful, especially for all those dedicated and honest diplomats who do their job - especially at a time when their government's policy is so problematic - the reign of Lieberman and his deputy for chair heights Danny Ayalon has revealed its ugly face. The law does not oblige Lieberman to resign from government, and does not permit the attorney general to demand his resignation before he is indicted. But it is customary to prevent a suspect who is a ministerial candidate from holding a portfolio related to the suspicions. Attorney generals Michael Ben Yair, Elyakim Rubinstein and Menachem Mazuz made it clear to Netanyahu (during both terms) and Ariel Sharon why they could not appoint suspect politicians to the justice and public security ministries.

The investigation into Lieberman in Belarus, and the need to share classified investigation material, allowed the suspects direct or indirect access into the information available to the police and the prosecution. Thus they could prepare for questioning, hide evidence, prepare witnesses (or threaten them), and in general undermine the work of the investigators.

How would Mazuz behave at the time Netanyahu was building his government, had he known of suspicions against ambassador Ben Aryeh for leaking the investigation documents about Lieberman? It is reasonable to assume that in addition to justice and public security, Mazuz would have told Netanyahu that Lieberman should also not be given the foreign affairs portfolio.

If this assumption is correct, then Yakov Weinstein, as attorney general, should ask for Lieberman's immediate removal from the Foreign Ministry.

Source:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1153537.html


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