The article at left, appearing in the Thursday, February 2, 2007 New York Times informs on the conviction of former Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon on charges of forcibly kissing a female soldier. Ramon stepped down from his position last August, when the charges against him arose.
In light of this conviction, which came January 31, many speculate that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will re-shuffle his cabinet, after the country's government has been brought down so much by criticism of its handling this summer's war with Lebanon, and the scandal that has surrounded numerous government officials within the Knesset.
President Moshe Katsav (whose office is largely ceremonial) is enduring the beginning of a three-month suspension while facing charges of rape, sexual assault and more.
Prior to the passing of a sexual harassment law in 1998, these charges were extremely rare in Israel's "macho culture," the article notes. Since then, however, there have been numerous such charges brought against Israeli officials.
Ramon, a 56 year old divorcee, was charged with kissing a 21 year old female soldier at a government office on July 12, the day the war between Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel began. Ramon claims the two were flirting and the kiss was consensual, however the soldier claims otherwise, and the three judges assigned to Ramon's case did not take kindly to his testimony, siding with the soldier.
Ramon's sentencing hearing is in about three weeks, with a maximum sentence of three years, but Ramon plans to appeal, and many speculators say it is unlikely he will do any time.
In my opinion, the Israeli officials coming under fire are no worse or better than those in power in the United States, or any other country. Yes, we put these people in office, and expect them to exemplify our ideals and serve as upright citizens, but the fact of the matter is, people are people. Does that excuse the alleged actions of Ramon, Katsav, Olmert, Clinton, and whoever else has come under fire for various misconducts? ABSOLUTELY NOT. My point is that had Joe Shmoe, a regular citizen not in the public eye, having his every action scrutinized, forcibly kissed a woman 35 years younger than him, the world would do no more than shake a finger at him and all would be forgotten by the next day. Politicians RUN for their jobs. They know what they are getting themselves into, and they know the scrutiny they are putting themselves under, so the question I am left with is, knowing all of this, why do they still do it?
The part that concerns me even more though, is why is this petty garbage actually news? The New York Times has had a regular series of articles detailing the corruption of Israeli officials, yet has made little to no mention of other events going on in the country-- and we all know there is always something going on over there. A brief perusal of today's headlines in Haaretz (a leading Israeli newspaper, published in Hebrew and English online at www.haaretz.com ) looks like this:
-"Quartet of Middle East Peace Brokers begins Meeting in US"
-"IDF Soldiers Wound Palestinian near Checkpoint in West Bank"
-"PMO: Peretz has no Authority to choose Missile Defense System"
-"Egyptians blame Hamas as Ceasefire Fails"
So Mr. New York Times, Mr. American News Media, where are these stories? Why do we only see news pertaining to the corruption of those who run the State of Israel, and no real, viable, important news pertaining to this controversial state? We get in-depth reports on the war in Iraq every day, we hear about the 500+ illegitimate candidates vying for the White House, we hear about Nancy Pelosi's fashion choices, and even about TV celebrities calling other TV celebrities "faggots". Why is this news less important, so much so, in fact, that the only coverage we get is on piddly misconducts by government officials that have become so astronomically blown out of proportion that the important issues get, literally, lost in translation?
3 comments:
Although I am an extremely loyal supporter to Israel, I simply do not agree with what is going on in terms on the sexual misconduct. Sexual misconduct is never ok, especially when the person committing the crime is in the government. These officials are elected, and once they break the trust with their voters, can usually never regain it. Government officials are suppossed to be role-models for the citizens. They are suppossed to differentiate between right and wrong. How can we have these type of people in office making the most important decisions of the country when they are committing crimes themselves. These men need to be kicked out of office and never be allowed back. With all the tension going on between Israel and various other factions, Israel does not need another negative conotation to its name.
I agree that that sexual miscoduct is unacceptable in any form, especially by people that are running a country. But it is also true that the public holds these officials up to a higher standard and expects them to be perfect. The reality is that these officials are people like me and you, and they make mistakes. Also, I don't think that this gives another "negative connotation" to Israel because they are the ones who are constantly being harassed.
I have to agree with you both. It is a hard situation to call sides on, especially because of the other tensions going on in Israel. The issue I take with this is more that this is the only story out of Israel that the American news media chooses to cover. There are definitely more important things to talk about here.
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