Much has been written about the issue of information leaks in
Israel. Ministers leak information from closed government
meetings, internal meetings and even cabinet meetings.
Politicians are inclined to leak information and without them
the media would be boring. Nevertheless every prime minister
has tried to combat leaks—and failed.
The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security Committee is
particularly prone to such disclosures, earning it the
nickname "a press conference with 21 participants." Knowing
that their remarks are likely to reach the public, security
establishment figures try their best not to provide material
for banner headlines. Sometimes they present only scant
information to avoid hearing their words twisted later. "It's
bad enough to leak the information, but they should at least
get it right," said one ranking security official
recently.
In order to combat Committee leaks, new guidelines were
distributed this week to serve as a manual for the committee
members. Just as there are instruction manuals for microwave
ovens and stereo systems, now there is an instruction manual
for the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.
The central paragraph requires MKs to sign pledges not to
pass on information to the press from committee
meetings— including their own
contributions—without permission from the committee
chairman. In other words if Yossi Sarid, Dani Yatom, Ron
Cohen or any other committee members wants to tell all about
how he smeared the General Chief of Staff or rebuked the head
of the GSS, Committee Chairman Yuval Steinitz has to provide
written permission. Only then can the information be made
public after waiting until the end of the meeting.
And what if someone steps out in the middle of the meeting?
In such a case he must avoid the press and refrain from
answering questions (a real challenge for the typical
politician). MKs could outsmart the guidelines by sending a
note through their personal aides or SMS, but the law
prohibits passing notes even to aides, except under urgent
circumstances.
He who thinks the new guidelines will help prevent further
leaks is sadly mistaken. MKs always love a challenge.
Especially if it has to do with information leaks. Proof in
point: even the new guidelines regarding information leaks
were leaked before the meeting was over . . .
Peres and Lapid Go Head to Head
Until recently the majority of political correspondents spoke
about the possibility of setting up an old man's party:
Sharon, Peres and Lapid. This possibility was discussed in
numerous publications and came to be dubbed "the big
scenario." In the meantime events took a turn. When Lapid
made an ultimatum to Sharon regarding United Torah Jewry, the
latter did not concede but fired Lapid and brought in Peres.
The would-be trio dissolved before it had ever
crystallized.
Last week exchanges between Peres and Lapid assumed sharper
tones. In a fiery speech against Peres it seemed as if Lapid
was finding it difficult to return to the opposition and
forego his title of Deputy Prime Minister. ("And I'm being
moderate," he claimed.)
The media assembled the various speeches in a collage and
split them into a few parts. This is how it sounded:
Lapid: "You put the nation on its feet for your [post as]
deputy [to the Prime Minister]. No Arabs, no Palestinians, no
disengagement, no New Middle East, all for the ridiculous and
superfluous title. Shame on you for what you did to the State
of Israel."
Peres: "What have you contributed in your secularization? You
have not done any of the things you promised. What makes you
secular? That you don't like the religious. Is this
secularization? Someone who doesn't like the religious is
anti-religious, not secular."
Lapid: "You bought Shas' vote. Is this an advance on your
entry into the government, or is this a regular payment? Cash
for every vote. How much did you shell out? Cash money or
just promises?"
Peres: "What are you raising your voice for? The fact that we
are quiet, restrained and polite does not mean you can shout.
What is your contribution? What do you want? Behave yourself!
Lower your voice! Look at your record and you'll see you
haven't done a thing."
Lapid: "Your eagerness for portfolios knows no bounds. We
will settle accounts with you. I'm not always going to speak
as moderately as I am now."
Peres: "I advise you to go to the Knesset cafeteria, look in
the mirror and then come back and step up to the podium and
write a lead article that has nothing to do with the issue at
hand."
Thus the exchange continued, to the chuckling of the MKs
listening. All of these remarks were made at the top of their
lungs, especially Lapid's remarks. If that was "moderate" one
shudders to think how he would sound if he really shouted.
Barry Chamish is Back
Journalist Barry Chamish is known to the public as the man
who spread a conspiracy theory on Rabin's death. He
thoroughly researched all of the details surrounding the
assassination and presented a list of questions and
contradictions to demonstrate the event was not as simple as
it appears to the eye.
Chamish claims the cries of "Dummy [bullets]! Dummy
[bullets]!" prove the original plan had not been to murder
Rabin but just to stage a fake murder in order to increase
Rabin's popularity and advance Peres' standing. Chamish gives
numerous lectures in Israel and abroad on his theory, which
relies on a variety of details. His main story is that "the
peace camp" carried out the murder through the GSS
("champagne" and all the rest). It must be admitted the
theory is fascinating and (somewhat) convincing.
Now Chamish is claiming former General Staff Chief and Deputy
Prime Minister Refael Eitan did not die as the result of a
drowning accident a few weeks ago as reported in the media,
but was killed by an assassination squad operated by "the
peace camp." He claims this squad also killed Rabin and also
other figures who apparently died of natural causes.
Chamish recounts that on the morning of Raful's death several
people asked him to look into the affair. Chamish asked
himself why anyone would want to kill Raful since he had been
out of politics for ten years. But that evening, when reports
of the event began to come in, he sensed something was amiss.
Chamish noticed information from the management of Yuval
Harbor in Ashdod contradicted the account from Raful's
family.
The harbor officially declared Raful arrived there at 7:00 am
and fell into the water immediately, while employees told the
police they saw him at 8:00 am. His family said he arrived
there around 6:00 am. Chamish is also troubled by the fact
the body was found a mile away from the spot where he
reportedly drowned.
Chamish contends Raful was lured out to the breakwater before
the workers arrived. Immediately afterwards he was brought by
car to the spot where he had to be struck by a part of a
crane. The goal was to stage a crane accident but the plan
slipped. As evidence Chamish notes Raful's car, which shows
major damage on the driver's side but not where Raful sat.
"How could it be that a `magical wave' passed over the
breakwater and hit his car like that? In the history of the
State no wave has ever destroyed anything besides Raful's
car." According to Chamish when the crane plan failed the
assassins decided to kill Raful and toss his body into the
water. "There was no autopsy or investigation," he says. "It
was an immediate cover-up."
Chamish always has surprises up his sleeve.
