Tal Or, with whom I share five Facebook friends who are all pretty much moderate rightwingers, on Friday posted a much-needed note which is worth studying. I give him full credit for this note, even though every single item in it is well-known.
What’s the extent of the accusations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Or asks and provides a succinct list, which, when read at a stretch is not all that shocking:
File 1,000: helping Israeli billionaire Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan to extend his US visa — something countless public servants do for their constituents every day; File 2,000: convincing Yedioth publisher Arnon (Noni) Mozes he, Netanyahu, would accept a bribe in the form of better coverage, and violating his trust by taping the exchange; File 3,000: The German submarines affair, in which Netanyahu is not a suspect; and File 4,000, in which Netanyahu is accused of giving regulatory benefits to Bezeq in exchange for somewhat supportive articles in Walla News – said benefits having been approved and signed by the Attorney General, the deputy head of the Shin Bet, and all senior officials in the Communications Ministry and senior Treasury officials.
File 4,000, incidentally, is based on an expanded definition of those “regulatory benefits.” There was no legal precedent for that until the prosecution decided to pin it on the PM.
Or juxtaposes the above case summaries which any competent defense attorney could easily hit out of the ballpark, with the accusations against Netanyahu’s foes (the text is a translation of his post):
“Ehud Barak: partners with a convicted human-trafficker and pedophile who paid Barak around $3 million through the Wexner Foundation, for a never-published research.
“Benny Gantz: according to the State Comptroller, deceived the police and received a contract worth around $1 million without a tender.
“Yair Lapid: transferred around $10 million to the Ayalim association without a tender, and two months later received funding for a student conference at the expense of the same association. The same man who promoted the Israel Hayom bill after meeting in secret with [that newspaper’s chief competitor] Noni Moses. And who as finance minister transferred NIS 1.5 million (around $400 thousand) to breweries, one of which belongs to his senior advisor and advertising man.
“Avigdor Liberman: whose daughter received millions of shekels for consulting global companies even before she turned 21 – the age when one can order beer in the United States.”
As I said, nothing here is new. The only point Tal Or is making has to do with the fact that police and the prosecution have been after Netanyahu for relatively minor sins, while turning a blind eye on his fierce opponents. Just a reminder, as we head into Netanyahu’s October hearing with the prosecution.