Shortly after
Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein announced on Thursday that Foreign
Minister Avigdor Lieberman would not be indicted on the more serious
corruption allegations against him, but rather on lesser fraud and
breach of trust charges, Lieberman said that he did not plan to quit his
post. But less than 24 hours later, Lieberman backtracked and announced
his resignation. What caused this dramatic turnabout?
According to
Lieberman's associates, the foreign minister never unequivocally said
that he would not quit, a claim that is backed by a close parsing of
Lieberman's speech on Thursday. However, it was clear that Lieberman at
least wanted to give the impression that he was not going anywhere.
Lieberman's resignation
announcement on Friday was based on three factors. One was a deep
concern that the petitions to the High Court of Justice filed by Meretz
and the Movement for Quality Government in Israel would lead to him
being forced to quit the government. Although the charges against him
are less serious than the ones that led the High Court of Justice to
force Aryeh Deri out of the government in 1999, Lieberman was worried
about a repeat of that story.
Lieberman also knew
that Weinstein would probably not give him two gifts in one week.
Lieberman received priceless Hannukah gelt from Weinstein when the
attorney-general decided to not file the more serious indictment against
him. But it was unlikely that Lieberman would also experience the
miracle of having Weinstein determine he could stay in office despite
his indictment on fraud and breach of trust in the Belarus ambassador
affair.
Weinstein would have
told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Lieberman must resign and
the High Court of Justice would have supported this position. No matter
what, Lieberman could not have remained a minister, but his decision to
initiate his departure was the correct move. The Likud party, which was
concerned about the No. 2 candidate on its joint list with Yisrael
Beytenu being tried for fraud and breach of trust, accepted Lieberman's
resignation in a respectful manner. This will help the Likud prevent the
leakage of votes to the center-left parties.
The decisive factor,
however, that led to Lieberman's resignation was his belief that a large
part of the public understood his decision not to betray Zeev Ben
Aryeh, our former ambassador in Belarus. Ben Aryeh did indeed break the
law and allegedly sought to help Lieberman obstruct justice. But
slandering Ben Aryeh would be a sign of ungratefulness. Lieberman felt
that Ben Aryeh's behavior was condemnable but also should be accepted
with understanding.
Weinstein, who had
hoped to put the ball back in the court of others, will soon find that
the fight has been renewed. Lieberman will seek an expedited verdict,
something that his political opponents will try to thwart. If Lieberman
agrees to a plea bargain, the question of whether he committed moral
turpitude will arise.
Weinstein hopes that he
has been freed of the burden of the Lieberman case. But the tension,
differences of opinion and need for decision-making still remain in the
Lieberman case. There is still a long way to go.
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